A sport where age is not a factor

In my view, billiards is one sport where age does not matter in order for one to excel.

As a matter of fact, several former winners of the prestigious World 9-Ball Pool Championship, like Americans Earl Strickland and Johnny Archer, Chinese Taipei’s Chao Fong-pan, Germany’s Ralf Souquet and local idols Efren “Bata” Reyes, Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, may be considered old for an athlete, yet they are good for some more years.

While it is true that there are other sports such as chess and marathon where age does not also matter, it is on record that a Filipino is yet to become a world champion in these sports. In billiards, the Philippines has already produced three world champions.

Hall of Famer Reyes was already 45 when he captured the world crown in Cardiff, Wales, in 1999. He is now 54.

Supported by brothers former Assemblyman Jose “Popit” Puyat and Aristeo “Putch” Puyat, the toothless “Magician” is an original member of the powerhouse Puyat Sports stable that includes the 58-year-old Jose “Amang” Parica, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 44; and 50-year-old Rodolfo “Boy Samson” Luat, who topped the recent Sen. Manny Villar Cup in Bacolod City.

Pagulayan, the 2004 world champion and 2005 US Open winner, is the latest addition to the team.

“His (Reyes) style is so drastically different,” once said the legendary Nick Varner, a two-time Billiards Digest Player of the Year. “He attracts a lot of attention. And he has a big impact on the way we Americans play the game.”

On the other hand, double world champion Alcano, who bagged the 2006 world 9-ball crown and the 2007 world 8-ball title, is now 35. Pagulayan, who won the 2004 world 9-ball and 2005 US Open crowns, is pushing 29.

Veteran internationalist Strickland is now 47, but still going strong. He won the world 9-ball title three times, in 1990, 1991 and 2002. Archer, 40, captured the championships twice, in 1992 and 1997.

On the other hand, two-time champion Chao, a contemporary of Reyes, took the crown in 1993 and 2000, while Souquet won it in 1996. Both are nearing 60, yet they are still capable of punishing young talents with their arsenals of flawless breaks, silk-smooth runs and merciless safeties.

-by Manolo Iñigo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

‘Biggies’ in Villar Cup

Expect an even more exciting and more competitive pool action as the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup goes international for its fifth leg slated from November 13 to 16 at the Garden Royal Function Hall of Goldenfields Commercial Complex in Bacolod City.

After four highly successful stops, where the cream of the country’s billiards’ crop battled for supremacy, the island-hopping series, presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports, has opened its door for some of the world’s top cue artists.

“We want to make this tournament even more competitive, more challenging to our top players, while giving our young players the experience of playing in the international level,” said Senate President Manny Villar during the press launch Wednesday at the Bacolod Goldenfields’ Garden Royal.

“This is part of my commitment of helping sports, especially those where we Filipinos can excel in and dominate, like billiards,” added Villar, now considered as the biggest benefactor of Philippine billiards.

Former World Cup of Pool titlist Fu Jianbo of China leads the visiting forces, who will mix it up with 24 local bets for the coveted title and the $15,000 top prize at stake in this four-day event, organized by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines in cooperation with the city government of Bacolod, led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia, and the Negros Billiards Stable of businessman Jonathan Sy and sponsored by Camella Communities.

Besides Fu, the other foreign entries in this tournament, also dubbed as “the Bacolod International VILLARDS Festival,” are former Asian Games gold medalist Satoshi Kawabata of Japan and Christian Johannessen of Norway, among others.

“Mas mabigat nga ang laban ngayon, pero tingin ko kami-kami pa rin ang magkikita sa finals,” said pool icon Efren “Bata” Reyes, reprising one of his famous lines.

Reyes will once again lead the local charge, along with fellow former world champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, reigning world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Lee Van Corteza and previous Villar Cup leg winners Kiamco (Alabang), Gandy Valle (Cebu), Ramil Gallego (Bulacan) and Roberto Gomez (Davao).

Also in the 32-man field are Carlo Biado and Ricky Zerna. The rest of the slot will be filled through wild-card entries and a series of qualifying tournaments slated from November 8 to 11 at the Celebrity Billiards and Bar in Bacolod City.

Besides the international invitational division, there will also be the Executive Class and Amateur divisions for both men and women, where almost half-a-million pesos cash prize is at stake.

RP’s best pool players team up in battle vs. Best of the World

Philippines best cue masters will join forces to keep the nation’s status as the best billiards playing country.

Former world champions Alex Pagulayan, Efren “Bata” Reyes and Ronnie Alcano, current world No.1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 2007 World Pool runnerup Roberto “Superman” Gomez, and Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Warren Kiamco and Lee Van Corteza are drawn together to form Team Quezon City-Philippines.

They will be cueing up against the collection of the best players who will be suiting up for the World Team; composed of newly-crowned US Open champion Mika Immonen of Finland, Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Wu Chia Ching of Chinese-Taipei and Shane Van Boening of the United States.

Other members of Team World are World Cup of Pool winner Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams of the US and Jianbo Fu of China, and newly-crowned Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals champion Ching Shun Yang of Chinese Taipei.

The two teams will play for the $40,000 top prize of the Q.C. Invasion: Quezon City-Philippines vs. the World Grand Billiards Showdown on Dec. 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

The two teams will play singles, doubles and team events patterned after the famous Mosconi Cup, an annual contest between the best pool players of the US and Europe.

Pool top guns vs world best

The country’s top pool players, still winless after the US 9-ball Open, try to close out the season with a victory when they slug it out with a select group of international players in the Q.C. Invasion: Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown on Dec. 2-4 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

“We may not have a reigning world champion now, but we, still, are the best in the sport, and that we will prove in this tournament,” said Alex Pagulayan, one of the eight hometown bets in the event organized by Quezon City Council Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton and backed by the Quezon City government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte.

“Though we know that it’s going to be a tough fight for us with the lineup they have on the other side, we are confident that we’ll be able to pull it through and end the Philippine billards’ year with a bang,” said Pagulayan.

Joining Pagulayan in the Team Quezon City-Philippines are fellow former world champions Efren “Bata” Reyes and Ronnie Alcano, along with current world No.1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, and Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medalists Warren Kiamco and Lee Van Corteza.

They will go up against the Team World led by newly crowned US Open champion Mika Immonen of Finland with fellow former world titlists Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei and Shane van Boening of the United States, as well as World Cup of Pool winner American Rodney Morris and compatriot Charlie Williams, and Fu Jianbo of China. Newly crowned Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals champion Yang Ching-shun is being eyed as the eighth member of the squad.

The two teams will slug it out in singles, doubles and team events similar to that of the famed Mosconi Cup with the winning side taking the $40,000 top prize at stake in this event supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines, the Quezon City Tourism Council and Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards with Solar Sports, RPN-9, The Philippine STAR and Business Mirror as media partners.