PoolRoom

Thirty-one Countries Vie for World Dominance in Wales

National pride is at stake at the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool, taking place now at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. Pressure is high as the scotch doubles matches are played on a straight knock-out basis.

The first round began on Aug. 22, with 32 two-man teams working together to represent their country. Thailand, represented by Tepwin Arunnath and Amnuayporn Chotipong, fell to Canadians Luc Salvas and Tyler Edey, 9-5. Team Qatar (Fahad Mohammadi and Bashar Hussain) was stymied by Malaysians Patrick Ooi Fook Yuen and Ibrahim Bin Amir, 9-3. And in an inter-continental contest, the Czech Republic, represented by Roman Hybler and Michal Gavenciak, defeated Poland’s Radoslaw Babica and Mariusz Roter.

The Phillipines, represented by Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, were the clear crowd favorites, and rose to the occasion in round one, with a 9-0 massacre over Malta’s Tony Drago and Alex Borg. It was a tight battle between Taiwan’s Wang Hung-hsiang and Yang Ching-shun and India’s Dharminder Lilly and Alok Kumar. The tiny island nation prevailed, 9-6.

England has two teams in the running, one of which is represented by Steve Davis and Daryl Peach. It was 5-5 before the Brits were able to pull ahead of Jeong Young-hwa and Lee Gun-jae of Team Korea. On Davis’ 49th birthday, he joyously accepted their 9-6 victory.

In the second day of play on Wednesday, Aug. 23, Russia’s Konstantin Stepanov and Konstantin Zolotilov starved Hungary’s Vilmos Foldes and Gabor Solymosi of opportunities, defeating them 9-3.

Hong Kong produced a heroic performance to stun sixth- seeded Sweden in the biggest shock thus far in the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool. Sweden, whose side consisted of former World Championship finalist Tom Storm and former World Championship semi-finalist Marcus Chamat, had been 4-1, 6-2, and 8-5 ahead in the race-to-9. But the Hong Kong pairing of Lee Chenman and Kong Man-Ho showed their character to win the last four racks to secure a place in the final 16.

Team Japan, Maasaki Tanaka and Satoshi Kawabata obliterated Indonesia’s Imran Ibrahim and Ricky Yang, 9-0. While the English “A” team of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Raj Hundal, didn’t have it quite so easy against Spain’s David Alcaide and Rafael Guzman. The crowd was gutted as the duo fell to a fast 4-0 deficit, but had their hopes back up as England got their nose in front at 8-7, but the Spaniards took the final two racks to close out a famous victory.

Team U.S.A. is composed of Rodney Morris and Earl Strickland, who had a decided victory over Singapore. The home team, Rob McKenna and Ben Davies of Wales, disappointed their fan base with a heart-breaking 9-2 loss to Germany (Thomas Engert and Oliver Ortmann).

Today, Aug. 24, three matches are left to determine the final 16. This morning, Ireland had no luck against Finland’s Mika Immonen and Markus Juva, heading home after a 9-5 loss.

The first matches of round two will begin tonight, with No. 1-ranked Phillipines and No. 3-ranked U.S.A. taking on their respective opponents. For up-to-the minute coverage at www.partypoker.com!

Luat Wins Third Leg of San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour

Filipino Rodolfo Luat won the Kaohsuing leg and kept the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball tour crown in the hands of the Pinoys after beating “The Assassin,” two-time world junior champion Hui-Kai Hsia, 11-7, Sunday, Aug. 6 at the Kaohsuing Business Exhibition Hall in Kaohsuing, Taiwan.

The win buoyed the hearts of the Filipinos, who saw their top bets Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante crash out of the tournament.

Reyes was ousted by Masaaki Tanaka of Japan, 6-9, late Friday and failed to advance in next round after losing in the point system in the group stage of the first round.

Bosom buddy Bustamante bowed to Hsia, 11-4, in the final-four to prevent an all Filipino final. Luat, on the other hand, nipped Indonesian ramil, 11-8, to arrange a titular showdown with Hsia, whom he beat two years ago, in a 9-2 count, in this country when Filipino-Canadian Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan won the 2004 WPC in Taiwan.

Luat, from Angeles City, Pampanga, who is scheduled to celebrate his 49th birthday on December 12, took an early 6-2 lead in the race-to-11 championships round. From there he won five of six racks en route to winning the leg and claiming the $10,000 top prize. This was Luat’s maiden appearance in Asian tour.

Filipino billiards master Efren “Bata” Reyes (Vietnam) and Ramil “Bebeng” Gallego (Bangkok) topped the first two-legs of this four-cities annual event where the fourth and final leg goes to Jakarta, Indonesia next month.

Aristeo “Putch” Puyat, acknowledged God Father of Philippines billiards, congratulated Luat’s big win, and is hoping that the Filipino cueists will win in Jakarta. “A possible sweep?” he asked.

“I am just lucky because at the end the ball is in my side.” Luat said.

Last year, Filipinos won three of the four legs: Gandy Valle (Singapore), Reyes (Jakarta) and former AZ Billiards Rookie of the Year Ronato “Ronnie Calamba” Alcano (Manila).

Besides the total prize money of US$160,000, the top 10 players on the Tour Order of Merit every year will directly qualify into the World Pool Championship.

San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Event Underway

The 2006 San Miguel Beer Asian 9-Ball tour begins today, May 5, at the Nguyen Du Sports Hall in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The field is divided into eight groups. Using a round-robin format, race-to-9, with alternating breaks, the winner of each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Filipino top seeds include Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan in group one, rising star “Marvelous” Marlon Manalo heading group three, Francisco “Django” Bustamante heading group four, and Efren “Bata” Reyes in group five.

Last year’s overall champion, the sensational Taiwanese Yang Ching-Shun, is the first seed in group eight, veteran Fong Pang Chao heads group seven and last year’s World Pool Champion, teenage sensation Wu Chia Ching has been listed No. 1 in group two. The fourth player Taiwanese player is Wang Huang Hsiang.

The only outsider who earned a top-seed ranking was Malaysia’s Patrick Ooi, who is heading group six. Four players will represent the host nation, Vietnam, led by Nguyen Thanh Nam and including Luong Chi Dong, Vu Trong Khai and Nguyen Phuong Thao.

Japan’s lone entry is Masaaki Tanaka. Hong Kong will be represented by Au Chi Wai. Korea’s entry is Jeong Young-Hwa who was runner-up to Reyes in Taipei in 2004. Other entries are Xu Meng and Li He-Wen of China, Nurdin Abuba and Imran Ibrahim of Indonesia, Sundeep Gulati of India, Chan Keng-Kwang of Singapore, Tepwin Arunnath and Amnuayporn Chotipong of Thailand.