Villar Cup Davao Leg

DAVAO CITY – The biggest names in Philippine billiards – and in the world as well – invade the country’s largest city when the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup, now the nation’s leading pool series, holds its fourth leg on August 21 to 23 at the Atrium of Gaisano Mall here.

Led by no less than the sport’s icon Efren “Bata” Reyes, the who’s who in the local pool circuit will showcase their wizardry before the Davaoenos, who will be celebrating their much-anticipated Kadayawan Festival.

“I’m very honored to bring here in Davao our world-class cue artists and take part in your celebration of life and thanksgiving to the Almighty,” said Senate President Manny Villar during the tournament’s press launch Thursday at Gerry’s Grill in Gaisano Mall.

“Again, this is part of my commitment to help promote the sport, which we Filipinos are the no.1 in the world. I hope that by bringing the Villar Cup here, it would encourage our people, especially the youth, not only here in Davao but in the entire Mindanao as well, to take the sport and stay out of trouble,” he added.

Villar was joined in the special forum of the Davao Sportswriters Association by Reyes, along with fellow former world champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, former Asian Games gold medalist Gandy Valle and three-time Southeast Asian Games titlist Warren Kiamco.

All of them, along with other established and up-and-coming pool stars, are seeing action in the tournament presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports in cooperation with the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) and sponsored by Camella Communities.

Valle and Kiamco are two of the previous Villar Cup winners with the former winning the Cebu leg last June and the latter ruling the inaugural Alabang leg in May. Ramil Gallego bagged the Bulacan edition last month and will be defending the crown here.

Besides the Pro Elite division, the Villar Cup Davao leg will also have the Sipag at Tiyaga category and the “Villards sa Barangay” edition.

The Sipag at Tiyaga division, which will be held on August 18 and 19 at the B3 Billiards Center of the NCCC Mall, is open to all non-elite professional players from all over the country, while the Villards sa Barangay, slated on August 17 at the same venue, is a tournament exclusive for Davaoeno amateur players.

Sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), the Villar Cup is also supported by Puyat Sports, Bugsy Promotions and Negros Billiards Stable.

Pool Players Welcome NBL

The soon-to-be-launched National Billiards League (NBL) has received an overwhelming support from the local pool community, particularly the players who are all excited to begin what they call “the new era of Philippine billiards.”

“We’re all very happy with this development as we know that having this professional league will really lift (Philippine) billiards to new heights, and this will be the start of a new era of Philippine billiards,” said former world champion Alex Pagulayan.

After finding a television partner – Solar Sports – that would broadcast the games for the league’s inaugural season, NBL’s main proponents Philippine billiards godfather Aristeo “Putch” Puyat and fellow managers Perry Mariano and Jonathan Sy are now negotiating with several companies for sponsorship to the teams to be formed.

Last Saturday, they met with the players from the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) to formally inform them of the development and invite them to join the league. They also introduced the newly-appointed NBL commissioner in businessman Martin Misa.

“We’re formally inviting you to join the NBL, a dream that we all share for a long time, which is now coming into reality,” said Puyat during the gathering attended by the country top cue artists, led by Efren “Bata” Reyes, as well as the sport’s up-and-coming stars.

“NBL will be exclusive for you BMPAP members, who have been with us in our crusade to put out sport in the right direction,” added Puyat.

The NBL is slated to start late this year with eight teams of six players each in the fold.

Meanwhile, the players present in the meeting reiterated their stand of not joining any event “that has anything to do with Mr. Yen Makabenta” and his Raya Sports, including the planned World 10-Ball Championship, until all the issues that caused them to break away from the groups affiliated with him are resolved.

“The main reason why BMPAP bolted away from the groups affiliated with Mr. Makabenta is because of his dual role as chairman of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) and President of Raya Sports, which clearly constitutes conflict of interest,” the players said in a statement.

Besides Reyes and Pagulayan, also in the meeting were former double world champion Ronnie Alcano, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Warren Kiamco, Rodolfo Luat and Joven Bustamante, among others. Reigning world no.1 Dennis Orcollo and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, who are campaigning in the United States, sent their representatives.

They said that having nothing against BSCP and they are willing to reestablish their ties with the association “if all the issues are resolved.

P800T up for grabs in Villar Cup

A Guaranteed total cash prize of P800,000 will be up for grabs in the star-studded First Senate President Manny Villar Cup 9-Ball Open Davao leg set August 21 to 23 at the Gaisano Mall of Davao Atrium.

Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) secretary-general Gandy Valle made the announcement during the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn.

Valle, who guested with Davao Billiards Association (DBA) president Menlee Migellano, said the office of Senator Villar has yet to send a breakdown of the prizes, although he revealed that the champion will take home not less than P300,000. The runner-up and the next top players will also receive huge prizes.

Valle said they will also hold an inter-barangay competition on August 17 for all-Davao players and a qualifying tournament on August 18 and 19 at the NCCC Mall B3 Center. The qualifying tournament is open for those who want to earn a slot to the main event to be held at the Gaisano Mall.

Migellano said the inter-barangay champion will pocket P10,000 while the qualifying champion will bag P20,000 and book a slot in the Villar Cup Open along with the runner-up who will get P9,000. The qualifying third and fourth placers, meanwhile, will go home with P3,000 each.

Valle, a former Bangkok Asian Games doubles gold medallist, confirmed the participation of pool sharks Efren "Bata" Reyes, current World No. 1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, reigning World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Davao City's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games back-to-back medallist and New York champion Lee Vann Corteza and former two-time world pool champion Ronato Alcano, among other big names.

"Only Francisco 'Django' Bustamante can't make it to the Davao leg because he has a campaign abroad on the same schedule as our tournament here. The leg champions in Alabang, Cebu and Bulacan will also come and put up a stiff challenge," said Valle, who won the Cebu leg of the prestigious cuefest.

Valle downplayed his chances to winning the Davao leg title citing the huge cast of veterans entered in the knockout, race-to-nine, alternate-break format meet. "I'll just focus on my game," he said.

Villar is the guest speaker in the opening rites on August 21 and he will also be on hand to award the prizes on August 23.

RP’s Pagulayan No.1 in AZ Billiards ranking

Former World Pool Championship (WPC) winner Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan of the Philippines, climbed to the top spot of the AZ Billiards Player Ranking list after beating compatriot Dennis Orcollo in the finals of the Guinness 9-ball tour Singapore leg last weekend.

According to AZ Billiards.com report yesterday, the 30-year-old Cabagan, Isabela Pagulayan rose to the No. 1 spot, pushing fellow World Pool Championship ruler Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet of Germany and reigning US Open 9-ball winner Shane “The South Dakota Kid” Van Boening of the United States to the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively.

However, in the AZ Biliards Player Money list, Souquet remained on top with $117,486 prize money so far. He beat Filipino Ronato “The Volcano” Alcano in the finals of this year's World 8-Ball Championships in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates to pocket the champion’s purse worth $60,000 plus $10,000 for settling in third place in the inaugural Qatar World 9-ball Open which was topped by Orcollo.

Van Boening whose biggest paycheck this year was worth $18,000 after winning the Derby City Classic 10-ball ring game, remains at No. 2 in the money list with a total of prize money of $71,750. At third place is Pagulayan with $57,703 followed by No. 4 Orcollo with $57,000 and No.5 Niels “The Terminator” Fejien of the Netherlands with $48,437.

Pagulayan Wins Singapore Guinness Billiard Event

2004 World Pool champion Alex Pagulayan ended the Chinese Taipei stranglehold of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 as he defeated compatriot and current world number one Dennis Orcollo, 11 - 6, in the All-Filipino finals of the Singapore leg of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 at Velocity@Novena Square.

Pagulayan’s victory earned him the top prize of $15,000 top prize while Orcollo, who entered the tournament as a wild card bet, settled for $6,000. The Chinese Taipei players previously dominated the Tour as they swept all six legs last year and this year’s first three legs, which were all won by Chang Jung-Lin.

Pagulayan managed his victory with a cue brand new cue from his Mezz Cues, which is an Alex Pagulayan Limited Series with a Hybrid Pro 2 shaft. The cue is one of the first ever Limited Editon cues made by Mezz for a player and only 50 cues were made. Chang was booted out of the competition by Orcollo in the group stage last Friday.

The last time a Filipino won a title on the Tour organized by ESPN STAR Sports was in 2006 when Efren “Bata” Reyes beat Ricky Yang in Jakarta, Indonesia. This also marks the first time since Lee Van Corteza defeated Francisco “Django” Bustamante in Manila in 2004 that two Filipinos battled for the crown.

Not counting an exhibition match in Guangzhou match in 2006, Pagulayan’s victory gave the Philippines a 13 - 12 advantage over Chinese Taipei in the number of titles won since the Tour started in 2003. No other country has won on Tour.

Known for his comical antics, Pagulayan actually trailed Orcollo, 2 - 0, but seized control of the match as he won the next five consecutive racks. Orcollo managed to make the match interesting as he only trailed by two, 8 - 6, after capitalizing on a scratch by Pagulayan in the 14th rack.

However, the player known as the “Lion” had the final roar as he won the next three racks courtesy of another Orcollo dry break in the 15th rack and a scratch in the 17th to cap off his first victory on Tour.

“Everything went wrong for Dennis and all the rolls went my way. It’s about time that we (the Philippines) won because the Taiwanese kept on winning all the legs since last year. It feels good and extraordinary to beat the number one player in the world,” said an extremely giddy Pagulayan.

“Alex was really lucky and it seemed that he was motivated ever since the quarterfinals. I played my game, but sometimes it’s all about the breaks of the game,” revealed Orcollo.

The 30-year old Pagulayan earlier reached the Finals after a 9 - 6 triumph over 2005 World Pool champion Wu Chia Ching. Orcollo advanced following a scintillating 9 - 8 semi-final victory over Taiwanese Yang Ching-Shun. Pagulayan dictated his semi-final match from the start as he established a comfortable 7 - 2 advantage following two dry breaks and miss on the pink four ball by Wu.

However, Pagulayan suffered a dry break in the 11th rack and missed a corner pocket shot in the 13th, allowing Wu to win the next four racks and make it 7 - 6. Wu had the break in the 14th rack, but an exchange of misses on the blue two ball turned possession over to Pagulayan as he cleaned the rack to stand on the hill.

Pagulayan then had a clean break and clinched the victory with a run-out of the 15th rack. Orcollo had a more dramatic finish in the final four. Precariously ahead 7 - 5, the player dubbed as “Robocop” missed an attempt on the one ball blocked by the four ball, paving the way for Yang to claim three of the next four racks to make it hill-hill.

With the match and a place in the finals on the line, Orcollo displayed impressive composure as he had a clean break in the 17th rack, putting him in good position for a run-out. After pocketing the four-ball, the Surigao-native found himself in a very fortunate situation as the five-ball lined up right in front of the nine-ball, setting it up for a match-clinching combination. The Filipino ace then calmly hit the cue ball which struck the five-ball before bouncing against the nine-ball that fell into the corner pocket to the collective roar of the crowd.

Up for grabs in the Singapore leg was a total prize purse of US$50,000 as well as points to qualify for the Tour’s Grand Final in Jakarta, which will feature the Top Ten players in the overall Order of Merit.

The winners of each leg will get to earn US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will pocket US$36,000. In addition, the Tour’s Top 10 players will also automatically qualify for pool’s most prestigious event, the 2008 WPA World Pool Championships later his year. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship.

Following stops in Chinese-Taipei, Penang, Genting Highlands and Singapore, the six-city Tour will have its penultimate leg in Guangzhou in September before heading to Jakarta for the Grand Finals in October.