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.

Group E: Wu Chia-Ching on Guinness 9 Ball Tour

GROUP E

Ricky Yang(INA) 9-3 Sumit Talwar(IND)
Sumit Talwar(IND) 2-9 Wu Chia-Ching(TPE)
Ricky Yang(INA) 4–9 Wu Chia-Ching(TPE)

Indonesia’s Ricky Yang started the day slow as he went behind 1-3 to India’s Sumit Talwar before getting his act together and romping to a 9-3 win. Early scare for the Indonesian star but he manages to hold off Sumit’s charge and take the game.

Sumit then came up against Chinese Taipei’s Wu Chia-Ching, and after going rack for rack to tie the game at 2-2, Wu upped the ante and charged to seven straight rack points to take the game 9-2.

Final game of the day saw two heavyweights, Ricky and Wu play off for the chance to move into the quarterfinals. Wu brought a smile back onto the faces of the Taipei crowd when he cruised into the quarterfinals by defeating Ricky Yang in the final game of day one.

Group Winner - Wu Chia-Ching

Wu-Chia Ching Wins the 40th All Japan Championships 2007!

Wu-Chia Ching, one of Taiwan’s billiards masters and the 2005 World Pool Champion, beat 1999 World Pool Champion and Filipino pool legend Efren Bata Reyes, aka The Magician, 11-6, in the quarter finals of the 40th All Japan Championships 2007 at the Hotel New Archaic Hall in Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo prefecture, Japan.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest pool players of all time, Efren Bata Reyes was the best finisher among the Filipino pool players in the just concluded billiards competition. The Magician, who comes from the Puyat Sports stable, received JPY250,000 for his last eight standing along with 2004 World Pool Championship runner-up Pei Wei-chang, Japan’s M. Tanaka, and 2004 World Pool Champion Mika Immonen, aka The Iceman. Filipino pool players Lee Vann Corteza and Warren Kiamco, who come from the Negros Billiard Stable, both received JPY125,000 for making it to the last 16.

Wu Chia-Ching massacred Japan’s T. Kuribayashi at 11-3 in the finals to snatch the top prize of JPY2,000,000. Wu Chia-Ching is just 18 years old! And I kid you not! Some of the great pool players who were trounced by Wu Chia-Ching include the 2006 All Japan Champion Filipino Lee Vann Corteza, 11-6 (last 16); Japan’s H. Hijikata, 11-1, (last 4), and T. Kuribayashi, 11-3, (finals).

Taiwan’s Shu-Han Chang won the women's crown of the 40th All Japan Championships 2007 by beating Japan’s A. Otani, 9-5.