World Ten Ball, Philippine Open Pool back in Manila

Regarded as the hotbed of pool in Asia, the Philippines will once again host two major tournaments of the World Pool-Billiard Association. The world’s governing body of pool announced the staging of the two world-ranking events — the World Ten Ball Championship for men and the Philippine Open Pool Championship — in the country this summer. The WTBC will be held from May 9 to 15 while the Philippine Open will be staged a month earlier from April 16 to 20. WPA president Ian Anderson said the two events have been scheduled within a month of each other so players can join them on one trip to Manila. “The WTBC and the Philippine Open are world-ranking events in the WPA calendar," he said. “Players earn points from placing well in the tournaments and can improve their position in the WPA rankings." The two events will be organized by Prism Inc. and Raya Sports, the same promotional outfit that handled four previous WPA world championships in the Philippines. A total of $250,000 will be up for grabs in the WTBC, which was last won by Mika Immonen of Finland in Manila. The champion will get $60,000. Like the WTBC, the Philippine Open offers a lucrative total of cash prizes to be disputed by the world’s best players. A total of $173,000 will be disputed ,with the champion getting the lion’s share of $25,000. The Philippine Open is the first WPA-ranking event that will be played after the World 8-Ball Championship in Fujairah, UAE. “It will be a benefit to players that the Manila tournaments stand close to the world 8-ball championship in Fujairah, the China Open in June, and the World 9ball championship in Qatar ," Anderson said. “All these events in the WPA calendar are being played in Asia." A total of 128 players will slug it out in the main draw of the WTBC, with the world’s top cue masters from 50 countries expected to take part in the event. The Philippine Open will feature 64 players in the main draw of the men’s championship, and 32 players in the women’s championship. Players interested in joining the tournaments are advised to check with their continental federations to find out whether they can get automatic spots in the main draw of the tournaments. Players can also gain entry to the main tournaments by joining the following qualifying events — the Philippine Open qualifier set on April 10-14 and the World Ten Ball Championship qualifier from May 3-7. Both qualifying matyches will be held at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City. - KY, Rey Joble, GMANews.TV