APBU names 14 Asian players for WTBC event including Wu Chia-ching

Asian Pocket Billiards Union has announced the first batch of 14 Asian players who will be seeing action in the main draw of the WPA World Ten Ball Championship in Manila on Sept. 29 to Oct. 5 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

Included in the 14 are former World Junior champion Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei, and his compatriots, multiple Guinness 9-ball titlist Chang Jun Lin and Yang Chin-Sung.

Other Asian qualifiers include Wang Hung-Hsiang (Chinese Taipei); Satoshi Kawabata, Naoyuki Oi, and Hayato Hijikata (Japan); Ryu Seung Woo, Jeong Dyoung-Hwa, and Kim Woong-Dae (Korea); Dharminder Singh Lilly (India) and Fahad Mohammadi, Basgar Hussain, and Mohd Al Bin Ali (Qatar).

They will join two other Asian players who earlier won guaranteed spots through the Philippine Pool Tour - Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese Taipei and Antonio Gabica of the Philippines. They will all enter the main draw of 128 players of the WTBC.

Fifteen other Asian players will be named by APBU later this month coming from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.

The WTBC is organized by Raya Sports with the support of Star Billiards, the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines, and the Philippine Billiards Foundation and sanctioned and supervised by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the world governing body for pocket billiards.

Chang is a six-leg winner of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour. He recently saw action in the Challenge of Champions in the US.

Ko is the reigning World junior champion and has swiftly emerged as Chinese Taipei's newest star. After dethroning three-time World junior champion Yu Lun-Wu in Germany last year, he won the Brunswick-Thailand Open in February this year.

Yang, celebrated as the "Son Of Pool" in his home country, is a multi-titled player, having won championships in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour and San Miguel Asian Tour.
Kawabata is Japan's top bet in international pool and finished in the top 10 of last year's World Pool Championship.

Ryu and Lilly are currently the No. 1 players in Korea and India respectively. They have competed and caught notice with impressive performances in the Guinness Tour.

Hopeful of World Cup of Pool glory

Holland a have a thrilling match in the opening round of the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool as they take on neighbours Belgium on the opening night of the competition.

The event, which features 32 two-player teams from around the world, will be staged at Outland in Rotterdam from Tuesday, October 7 to Sunday, October 12.

Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen, ranked fifth and sixth respectively in Europe , are in the Holland A side and one of the favourites to win the title.

They will be backed by a large, passionate crowd as they begin their campaign against the Belgian duo of Serge Das and Noel Bruynooghe.

This pairing produced a huge shock in last years event when they defeated the highly-fancied Taiwanese team, which included former World Champion Wu Chia-ching.

Holders China , who defeated Finland 11-10 in a thrilling 2007 final, will again be represented by Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo.

They will kick-start the event as they meet India ’s Sumit Talwar and Alok Kumar in the tournament’s opener.

Reigning World Champion Daryl Peach and European No.1 Mark Gray make up a strong looking England team, but they will have to be at their best to get past Malta ’s Tony Drago and Alex Borg.

The USA pairing of Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris face newcomers Iceland , while the Philippines outfit of Francisco Bustamante and Dennis Orcollo play in the last first round match against Denmark . 

8-ball, 9-ball champs secure spots in world 10-ball affair

Two reigning world champions lead a stellar cast of cue artists in the World 10-ball Championships scheduled in September.

Daryl Peach of England, the current world 9-ball king, and Ralf Souquet of Germany, the world 8-ball titlist, are expected to participate in the tournament that will be held in Manila.

Joining Peach and Souquet are previous qualifiers Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese-Taipei and Antonio Gabica of the Philippines.

Wu and Gabica won the WTBC qualifying events through the Philippine Pool Tour.

Wu, a double world champion in 8-ball and 9-ball in 2005, won the Puerto Princesa Mayor’s Cup of the PPT last June in Puerto Princesa City.

Gabica, the reigning Philippine Open and Asian Games champion, won the Mandaluyong Mayor’s Cup of the PPT last May in Mandaluyong City.

Europe’s no.1 lady player Jasmin Ouschan of Austria will also see action in the top-tier event.

Wu Chia-Ching entered on Four slots in World 10-Ball

Four slots in the inaugural World Ten-Ball tournament on September will be up for grabs in the 3rd Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) National Pool Championship.

Eliminations for the event will be held at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City while the finals shall take place from August 26-31 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate, Manila.

Filipino Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica and Taiwanese Wu Chia-Ching already won slots in the World Ten-Ball tournament after successful stints in the Philippine Pool Tour legs in Mandaluyong and Puerto Princesa, respectively.

Gabica will see action with Marlon Manalo, the 2005 World Pool Championship 3rd placer; Jeffrey de Luna, the 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball champion; and the young Jericho Bañares, the reigning Philippine Junior Champion as they chase the P400,000 winner's purse.

Prize money down to the 32nd placer will be given. The event is open to all Filipino players.

Other notable players who will be vying for the national title are: Leonardo Andam, Fidel Punzalan, Leonardo Didal, Edgar Acaba, Mario Tolentino, Elvis Calasang, Luis Saberdo, James Al Ortega, Alex Nobleza, Raymond Faraon and 14-year-old Jonas Magpantay, among others.

RP 10-ball qualifiers set in August

The Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) will stage the qualifying tournament for the September World 10-Ball Championship.

The BSCP Nationals will be played August 26 to 31 at the Rizal Billiards Hall.

The top-four finishers in the five-day tournament will get slots in the World meet. The prize money offered in the Nationals totals P400,000.

Dubbed the third BSCP National Pool Championships, the qualifiers will push through despite the hard-line stance of a rival billiards group that said it would boycott the 10-Ball Worlds.

Already assured of berths in the World 10-ball tilt are Antonio Gabica of the Philippines and Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei, who qualified after winning the Mandaluyong and the Puerto Princesa legs of the Philippine Pool Tour respectively.

Wu rules Puerto Princesa Ten Ball bash

PUERTO PRINCESA –  Count the Ten Ball championship to the growing list of crown collections of Taiwanese big shot Chia-Ching Wu.

For youthful Filipino star Jericho Banares, his time has to wait – for the moment.

The former World Pool 9-Ball and World 8-Ball titlist used his precise pocketing to engineer yet another remarkable comeback to fashion out a thrilling 11-9 triumph and rule the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup, second leg of the Philippine Pool Tour here at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum late Sunday night.

It was an uphill battle for the two young guns of billiards.

As expected, Wu had another slow start, similar to his previous tough two matches against Marlon Manalo in the last game of the eliminations and Ralf Souquet in the semis. But the 19-year-old sensation, who dominated the international billiards scene in 2005, completed another strong finish en route to nipping the reigning national junior champion.

"I had another tough time. For three straight games I had a slow start. I was fortunate at the very slim opportunity given to me and made the most out of it," said Wu, thru his interpreter Hans Lu, owner of Pool Fusion Billiards Hall in Manila.

Wu found himself trailing again in the finals. He was down, 2-6, then took the next two racks.

Banares got his turn in the 11th rack to take a 7-4 lead. From there, Wu mostly kept the up-and-coming Filipino star in his seat.

A huge six-rack run by Wu behind his solid breaking and precise pocketing had the Taiwanese taking full control of the match. The run reminded aficionados of his WPC victory in Kaoshiung, when he took five straight racks to claim the world championship. 

But Banares pounced on an error by Wu in the 18th rack to get back to contention. He ran out the table and then took the 19th rack as well.

Then came the most pivotal rack in the 20th with Banares getting a chance to salvage an equalizer and a win could give him the momentum he needed for the final blow. Banares got no shot at the blue 2 despite getting two balls on his break. Wu got a little opening after Banares flubbed a safety play, but the table layout was difficult to run out. Instead he laid a tough safety on his opponent that looked too tough to escape from.

Banares' made a spectacular bank shot on the green 6 that went in the side pocket, but that shot was nullified after he scratched the cue ball.

That was a backbreaker and Wu took care of business and finished the job.

With the victory, Wu took the first prize money of $10,000 and  a guaranteed seat in the inaugural World Ten Ball Championship in Manila in September.

Banares received $4,000 for finishing runner-up. Losing semifinalists Souquet and Manalo got $2,000.

32 players take center stage in Puerto Princesa Cup

PUERTO PRINCESA – Thirty-two tough competitors, including several double world champions, world and national youth titlists, and other veteran campaigners will take center stage today, Friday, in the opening of the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup, the second leg of the Philippine Pool Tour.

This bustling resort city, nicknamed "The City In The Forest" because of its lush vegetation, will host the three-day event to be held at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum with all eyes focusing on the big guns and rising stars from Germany, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Two-time world champions Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Chia-Ching Wu and Jung-Lin Chang of Taiwan, and reigning world junior champion Ko Pin-Yi banner the field of invaders.

But they will be tested by the formidable field of Filipino players led by Antonio Gabica, winner of the first PPT leg last month, Marlon Manalo, and Jericho Banares, 2008 Philippine junior champion and a standout in the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup.

Souquet, currently the biggest money earner among billiard players this year with $106,786, has his eyes set on the $10,000 top prize in this event organized by the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines and supported by San Miguel Beer and Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

Hohmann, the 2003 World Pool titlist and winner of the IPT North American Open Championship, is also one of the favorites, along with Wu, the 2005 World 9- Ball and 8-Ball champion.

Thirteen pool players qualified for the Puerto Princesa leg Tuesday at the end of the elimination round. They were led by Ko Pin-Yi, power breaker Jeff de Luna and two-time national youth finalist Jordan Legaspi. The other players who advanced were Oliver Villafuerte, Wang Ming, Arturo Palma, Richard Alinsub, Jorge Dacer, Boots Augusto, Rocky Tullao, Edgar Acaba, Romeo Silvano and Raymund Faraon.

They join the 17 seeded players who earlier qualified for the main tournament by virtue of their performance in the Mandaluyong Cup and their standings in world pool rankings. They are: Souquet, Hohmann, Wu, Antonio Gabica, Marlon Manalo, Leonardo Andam, Jericho Bañares, Mario Tolentino, Leonardo Didal, Chien-Te Chung, Gerry Watson, Kenji Taguchi, Allan Soliman, Luis Saberdo, Junbert Ogang, Courtney Symons and Jung-Lin Chang.

Puerto Princesa will field two local bets – Jade Samson and Jonathan Corpuz – in the tournament. They won their spots by topping the qualifiers held in the Palawan capital.

Ko, a Physical Education student in Taipei, who started playing competitive billiards at the age of 12, beat Roland Garcia, 9-7, for his third victory in the eliminations.

De Luna, who was relegated to the loser's bracket Tuesday following his loss to Jin Hu-Dang, 6-9, vented his ire on Resty Labastida, 9-1, to make the cut.

Legaspi crushed Dang, 9-6; Wang scuttled Rocky Tullao, 9-5; Dacer whipped Labastida, 9-4; Augusto nipped Romeo Silvano, 9-7; Alinsub edged Elvis Calasang, 9-8; Villafuerte outlasted Fu Jin-Bo, 9-7; and Palma squeaked past Chu Hung-Ming, 9-8.

In the loser's bracket, Tullao tripped Rollo, 9-8; Acaba defeated Silverio Tulabing, 9-7; and Silvano ripped Raymund Faraon, 9-4.

Faraon earned the last ticket to the Puerto Cup after defeating Tulabing in the playoff finals, 9-3.