The amazing victory last Sunday of former World Pool champion Alex Pagulayan over world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo in an all-Filipino final in the Singapore leg of the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour showed once more that the Philippines is set to regain billiards supremacy from rival Chinese Taipei.
Pagulayan’s triumph snapped Chinese Taipei’s string of successes in the Guinness Tour. Last year, Chinese Taipei players swept the six-leg tour and, this year, has won the first three (through Chang Jung-ling) before Pagulayan stopped the Taiwanese juggernaut.
In their one-on-one rivalry, the Philippines leads Chinese Taipei by the slimmest of margins, 13-12. No other Asian entry has ever won on the tour, which started in 2003.
In 2006, the Philippines, sparked by Hall of Famer Efren “Bata” Reyes, swept the Asian tour, then called the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour. Reyes captured two legs while fellow veteran internationalists Ramil Gallego and Rodolfo Luat won one leg each.
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