A combo of great shots and scratches for RP billiards

The well-regarded Filipino cuemasters did their thing on the table while their managers and officials squared off for control of the local governing body for billiards and snooker. This in a nutshell is Philippine billiards in 2009, a year marked by a combo of great shots (triumphs inside the billiards halls) and scratches (political bickering that nearly threatened Pinoys’ success in international competitions). Amit, Orcullo to the rescue Believe it or not, a lady stole the spotlight away from several hopefuls seeking to bolt out of the shadows of two of the best greatest players in the international billiards circuit. Rubilen Amit displayed year-long brilliance on the pool table – be it a world-class competition or a peninsular meet in neighboring Laos – to be the saving grace of the sport.

Amit made history when he became the first Filipina to win a world championship, ruling the inaugural World Women’s Ten Ball Championship at the SM North Edsa Annex. What made the victory even sweeter was that the pride of Mandaluyong City wasn’t tagged a favorite to bag the crown given the presence of women’s world No. 1 player Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, veteran campaigner Liu Shin Mei of Chinese-Taipei, Akimi Kajitani of Japan and Yu Ram Cha of Korea. But with the hometown crowd rallying behind her at every turn, Amit did the unthinkable. She defeated Kajitani in the semis then surprised Liu in the finals en route to capturing the title and joining the illustrious cast of Reyes (1999 World 9-Ball), Ronnie Alcano (World 9-Ball 2006, World 8-Ball 2007) and Alex Pagulayan (2003) as the country’s world champions. Amit would cap her impressive string of victories for the year when she accounted for two gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games in Laos, ruling the 8-Ball and 9-Ball disciplines and pocketing P600,000 on top of them. Actually, it was Dennis Orcullo who jumpstarted the Filipinos’ reign internationally. The former No.1 player in the world showed his might against then reigning No.1 player Ralf Souquet of Germany, whom he defeated in the finals of the Predator 10-Ball Challenge, 8-3, in the United States. Regarded as the local billiard money king, Orcullo refused to be intimidated by Souquet’s reputation as the best in the game today. He pounced on the German ace’s early miscues en route to winning surprisingly and becoming the first Pinoy player to rule the Predator Challenge in its nine-year of existence. Bata, Django strike again Seeing legendary Efren “Bata" Reyes and Francisco “Django" Bustamante hoisting the trophy certainly provides pride and joy to the entire nation. Last May, the two were at it again, teaming up and rewarding the country with yet another title when the duo outlasted 31 other countries in the World Cup of Pool held at the SM City North Edsa. The dynamic duo defeated the German pair of Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann in a match full of twist, turns and drama. The drama, however, didn’t start in the championship round. It began in the semifinals when the Pinoys had to endure a rallying Chinese combo of Li Hewen and Fu Jianbo. The Chinese connection fought back from 1-5 down and forced a hill-hill encounter against the two legends of pool. But as always, the Filipinos drew strength from the crowd and withstood the challenge of the Chinese to set up a championship showdown with Germany bannered by two former world champions. It was the first time Reyes and Bustamante got back on the winning scene after struggling for about two years in major competitions. The legends, however, failed to weave their magic in the SEA Games, bowing out of the medal round following a after dropping a 4-7 loss to Thai pair Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Surathep Phoochalam in the quarterfinal round. Political bickering Curiously, Orcullo was one among the players who joined the Billiards Managers Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), a group headed by Perry Mariano and Putch Puyat to challenge the group of Yen Makabenta, chairman of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines. With some of the big names in local pool like Orcullo, Reyes, Bustamante, Pagulayan and Alcano joining the crusade in their fight against the Makabenta camp, the Philippines had to make do competing in major international competitions sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association with the remaining best talents available. Without affiliation with the WPA-recognized group of Makabenta, these players were barred from competing in the WPA-ranking events, including the only world championship for men in 2009 – the World Ten Ball Championship. The only notable players who competed in major tournaments like the Philippine Pool Tour Subic-Olongapo Challenge and the WPA-ranking tournaments the Philippine Open Championship, the China Open and Qatar Open, were former Asian snooker champion Marlon Manalo, reigning Asian Games gold medalist Antonio Gabica, power-breaking Jeff de Luna and last year’s big revelation Demosthenes Pulpul and former national junior champion Jericho Banares. Without the stars in the game, the organizing Raya Sports had to count on the non-Filipino big names in the circuit. The Philippine Pool Tour Subic-Olongapo Challenge was in fact ruled by the Taiwanese last April. Two-time world junior champion Ko Pin-Yi and former world pool runner-up Chang Pei Wei arranged an all-Taiwanese titular showdown with the 19-year-old Ko prevailing in a hill-hill encounter, 11-10. The following month in the Philippine Open Championship, Raya Sports tried to give Filipino fans some sizzle sans the big names in local pool by even pitting male players against the best women players like Ouschan, Kelly Fisher of Great Britain and Karen Corr of Ireland. Present though were Souquet and Hohmann, then WTBC champion Darren Appleton and reigning World 9-Ball champion Daryl Peach of Britain, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Neils Feijen of the Netherlands and Mika Immonen of Finland and cracks players from Asia like Ko and Chang of Chinese-Taipei, Fi Jianbo of China, Ricky Yang of Indonesia, and Satoshi Kawabata of Japan. De Luna carried the fight for the Filipinos throughout the event, but faltered down the stretch when he lost to Yang in the finals, 4-11. Deprived of opportunities competing in the WPA-ranking events, the BMPAP group found an ally in Senator Manny Villar, who came up with his own billiards caravan, organizing tournaments that toured the country. Feuding pool leaders kiss and make up Before the year ended, though, Makabenta and his group and their rivals from the BMPAP camp like Mariano and Jonathan Sy, set aside their differences in a bid to produce a Filipino world champion. Makabenta’s camp allowed players from the opposing group to participate in the WPA-sanctioned World Ten Ball Championship, staging two qualifying events to accommodate players from BMPAP and other aspiring local players. BMPAP-affiliated Alcano and Orcullo, the two best performing players the previous year, were even given automatic seeds into the main draw of the WTBC while other players like Corteza, Ramil Gallego and several other notable players made their way via the qualifying stages. With stakeholders in local pool joining hands, the Philippines nearly produced another world champion. Corteza barged his way to the finals while another Filipino, comebacking Antonio Lining marched all the way to the Final Four. However, Corteza succumbed to the pressure and lost to the hottest player in the international billiard circuit – Immonen, 6-11. Big countries from Europe, Asia and America felt the economic pinch, forcing organizers to cancel two world championships – the 8-Ball Championship in Fujirah, United Arab Emirates and the 9-Ball competitions. But the country took pride in hosting two major events in world pool – the World Ten Ball Championship and the biennial WPA General Assembly, which was held in the country for the first time. Brighter hopes in 2010 Corteza and Lining may have felt short in their bid to becoming a world champion, but it earned them a fitting reward. Davao City pride Corteza became the highest-rated Filipino player in the world today, moving up to No. 4 spot in the new WPA ranking and will lead the Filipinos’ campaign in the first-ever World Team Championship in Hanover, Germany from Jan.30-Feb.7, 2010, along with Lining, Alcano, Orcullo, Manalo and comebacking Warren Kiamco. They will play in a tough, point system tournament patterned after the Davis Cup in international tennis. The Philippines is installed as one of the favorites in the 45-nation field along with host country Germany, England, the United States, Japan, Chinese-Taipei and China. Immonen will be seeing action in the event, but his team, Finland, may not be among the favorites so as the teams of Chamat (Sweden) and Feijen (Netherlands) as they may not get the support they need from their less-heralded teammates. Teams will compete in three disciplines - the 8-Ball, 9-Ball and 10-Ball. The 8-Ball will be played in a Scotch Double format and bears two points for every team. The 9-Ball and 10-Ball will have a point each. - GMANews.TV