It’s World Pool time again page 1 of 3 Column for Philippine Daily Inquirer PDI 07-17, 11-01-07 [for publication on 11-03-2007] It’s World Pool time again Mahar Mangahas It’s time to go for pool glory again, as 128 of the finest players on the planet clash in the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship (WPC) at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, from today, November 3, up to Sunday, November 11th. There will be several hours of live telecasts every day, simultaneously on ABS-CBN (Studio 23 at first, and possibly also Channel 2 later) for matches of more interest to locals, and on ESPN for matches aimed at global viewers. The WPC is the flagship event of the World Pool-Billiards Association (WPA), the international governing body for pool. First staged in 1990, it is now the most prestigious pool tournament in the world, with a prize of US$100,000 to the champion. Under a long-term agreement with WPA, since 1999 the WPC tournament has been managed by the British company Matchroom Sport. In 2006, the WPC came for the first time to the Philippines, which Matchroom calls “the spiritual home of pool.” The host-country stager is again Raya Sports, in partnership with the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP). The three great pool powers in the world today are the Philippines, Taiwan, and the United States – in that order, in my opinion as a relatively ancient aficionado, salted no doubt by a pinch of national pride. We have the largest contingent to the 2007 WPC, with fifteen players, led by champions Ronato Alcano (2006 in Manila), Alex Pagulayan (2004 in Taipei; 2003 runner-up) and Efren “Bata” Reyes (1999 in Cardiff, Wales). Ten other seeded Filipinos, in alphabetical order, are: Francisco “Django” Bustamante (2002 runner-up), Joven Bustamante, Lee Van Corteza, Antonio Gabica, Ramil Gallego, Antonio Lining, Rodolfo Luat, Jeffrey de Luna M. Mangahas, Social Climate, PDI 07-17 Nov 03 It’s World Pool time again page 2 of 3 (who last week won P1 million in the First Pacquiao nine-ball open), Marlon Manalo, and Dennis Orcullo. Final entrants are Leonardo Andam and Roberto Gomez, who won two of ten open seats at stake in a pre-WPC qualifying tournament on October 27-31, held at Star Billiards in Quezon City. Our toughest competitors are the Taiwanese, led by champions Chao Fong- Pang (1993 and 2000) and Wu Chia-ching (2005). Six other seeded players are Yang Ching-shun (consistent winner in the Asian nine-ball circuit), Kuo Po-cheng (2005 runner-up), Chang Pei-wei (2004 runner-up), Chang Jung- ling, Fu Che-wei, and Liu Chun-chuan. The Taiwanese contingent grew to thirteen, as Chang Yang-mau, Chun Ming-hung, Ko Pin-yi, Lu Hui-Chan, and Wu Yu-lun all won slots in the qualifier. There are twelve Americans in the 2007 WPC, led by champions Earl Strickland (1990, 1991 and 2002) and Johnny Archer (1992 and 1997). Other seeded Americans are Corey Deuel, Mike Davis, Troy Frank, Jeremy Jones, Rodney Morris, Tony Robles, Robb Saez, John Schmidt, Shane Van Boening (2007 US Nine-Ball Open champion; Ronnie Alcano was runner- up), and Charlie Williams. The next most important top pool country is Germany, which is sending Ralf Souquet (1996 champion, 2006 runner-up), Thorsten Hohmann (2003 champion), Oliver Ortmann (1995 champion), Thomas Engert, and Harald Stolka. Familiar, friendly faces will be those of Mika Immonen of Finland (2001 champion), and Marcus Chamat of Sweden. Mika and Marcus visit the Philippines often, and even know a little Tagalog. In 2003, Marcus had a movie role as a pool tournament competitor against Fernando Poe, Jr. and Bata Reyes in FPJ’s final film, Pakners. Others who bear watching are Li He-wen of China (2006 semi-finalist), Netherlands’ Niels Feijen (who once eliminated Bata Reyes) and Nick van den Berg (played in the Europe vs. U.S. Mosconi cup), Ibrahim bin Amir (Malaysia), Tony Drago (Malta), Luong Chi-dung (Vietnam), Imran Majid (England), Fabio Petroni (Italy), and Ricky Yang (Indonesia). * * * M. Mangahas, Social Climate, PDI 07-17 Nov 03 It’s World Pool time again page 3 of 3 The complex seeding system for the WPC, based on major tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the Japan Open, the BSCP Philippine Open, and the Asian Nine-Ball tour, leaves some slots open for competition in a pre-WPC qualifier tournament. This year, over 150 players vied for ten non-seeded slots, which eventually went to five Taiwanese, two Filipinos, a Chinese, an Indonesian and a Japanese. (One reason for the deepness of the Taiwanese bench is their well-organized training. Here in the Philippines, schools still look down on billiards as a sport, and have no formal coaches for it.) Each day for five days, two knockout qualifiers of at least 64 participants were held at Star Billiards, on the same equipment used in the WPC: Brunswick tables, Simonis cloth, Aramith balls. Getting a slot required winning at least six consecutive matches. Those unsuccessful on one day could try again the next day. The level of play was very high – even Chang Hao-ping, 1999 WPC runner-up, was eliminated last Wednesday! * * * The 1999 WPC, which Bata Reyes won, was the first to have a live global telecast. Later, for his many triumphs in the American professional billiards circuit, Reyes was elected to the Hall of Fame of the Billiards Congress of America. Bata Reyes was the sportsperson admired by most Filipinos in the October 1999 Social Weather Survey -- at 33 percent, compared to Luisito Espinosa’s 22 percent and Manny Pacquiao’s 21 percent. The October 1999 SWS survey also asked, “What sports are Filipinos good at?” and got these top four answers: basketball 72%, boxing 55%, billiards 37%, and bowling 15%. All other sports scored in single digits only. Contact SWS: www.sws.org.ph or [email protected]. # M. Mangahas, Social Climate, PDI 07-17 Nov 03 .