World’s Top 32 Earn Spots in WTBC

From l to r: Darren Appleton, Ralph Souquet and Mika Immonen

THE top 32 players in the rankings of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) became the first batch of players to be given guaranteed seats in the main draw of the second World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC) slated at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Metro Manila from November 25-30.

WPA president Ian Anderson has explained that with the new ranking system introduced this year, the world’s governing body for pool ushered in a new system of awarding spots in the world championship. Besides the top 32 ranking players, spots are mainly allocated to the continental federations which then award the spots to deserving players.

The Top 32 are led by current world No. 1 Darren Appleton of Great Britain. He is followed by Ralf Souquet of Germany (2), Mika Immonen of Finland (3), Niels Feijen of the Netherlands (4), and Shane van Boening of the United States (5).

Two Filipinos, Jeffrey de Luna (8) and Demosthenes Pulpul (9), made it to the top 10. Other notable Asians in the elite list are Ko Pin Yi (13) and Yang Ching-Shun (25) of Chinese Taipei, Ricky Yang of Indonesia (14), and Satoshi Kawabata of Japan (18).

The distribution of the 32 players by continents is: 15 Europeans, 13 Asians, four North Americans.

The other North American players besides Van Boening are Americans Corey Deuel (12) and Charlie Williams (15), and Canadian Tyler Edey (29).

Appleton is the defending World Ten Ball champion. He overtook erstwhile No.1 Ralf Souquet of Germany middle of this year after placing third in the Qatar Open, one of several world-ranking events lined up by the WPA in 2009.

No. 3 Mika Immonen ruled the Qatar Open after beating two-time World Junior champion Ko Pin Yi in the finals. He is the current money leader among men players in the world circuit.

The complete list of the WPA’s Top 32 follows:

1. Darren Appleton, GBR

2. Ralf Souquet, GER

3. Mika Immonen, FIN

4. Niels Feijen, NED

5. Shane Van Boening, USA

6. Marcus Chamat, SWE

7. Daryl Peach, GBR

8. Jeffrey De Luna, PHI

9. Demosthenes Pulpul, PHI

10. Thorsten Hohmann, GER

11. Radoslaw Babica, POL

12. Corey Deuel, USA

13. Ko Pin-Yi, TPE

14. Ricky Wang, INA

15. Charlie Williams, USA

16. Lu Hui Chan, TPE

17. Fu Che-wei, TPE

18. Satoshi Kawabata, JPN

19. Liu Haitao, CHN

20. Chris Melling, GBR

21. Marlon Manalo, PHI

22. Dimitri Jungo, SUI

23. Antonio Gabica, PHI

24. Bruno Muratore, ITA

25. Yang Ching-Shun, TPE

26. Wang Hung-Hsiang, TPE

27. Mark Gray, GBR

28. Ruslan Chinakhov, RUS

29. Tyler Edey, CAN

30. Imran Majid, GBR

31. Allan Cuartero, PHI

32. Nick van den Berg, NED

Heritage Manila Tapped as Official Hotel of WTBC

HERITAGE Hotel Manila will serve as the official hotel of the 2009 World Ten Ball Championship when it takes place on November 25-30 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Metro Manila. This was officially announced by Raya Sports and Heritage Hotel during the formal contract signing on Friday, September 25 at the hotel’s headquarters on Roxas Boulevard.

As official hotel partner, the five-star hotel will host participating players, officials of the World Pool-Billiard Association, billiards executives and fans during the week-long event. It will also serve as the venue for the WPA General Assembly scheduled on November 27.

Mr. Eddie B. H. Yeo, general manager of Heritage Hotel Manila, and Mr. Yen Makabenta, chairman and CEO of Raya Sports, signed the memorandum of agreement between the two companies.

Heritage Hotel Manila is a member of the London-based international hotel group Millennium Hotels and Resorts. It has all the accommodations and amenities of a luxury hotel. It ushers its guests to 450 newly-refurbished rooms in contemporary design.

And it also houses the 24-hour Philippine Amusement and Games Corporation (PAGCOR) Casino.

Opened in 1994, Heritage is a popular hotel for corporate, convention and leisure travelers. It is centrally located with easy access to two major business districts, shopping, entertainment, and convention and exhibition centers. It is the nearest international hotel to the 60-hectare Mall of Asia Complex. And it is 15 minutes away from the Manila international and domestic airports.

According to the terms of the MOA, during the WTBC Heritage will provide, among others, a special room rate for tournament players, officials and guests and a regular shuttle service between the hotel and the venue.

To avail of the special rates and ensure accommodations, players and guests are urged to book early. They can make reservations through Raya Sports (email: nenyregino@prismphil.com) or direct to the hotel(email: guest@heritagehotelmanila.com).

You may also download a map to the Heritage here.

RP Pool Championships kick off busy November

IT WILL be a busy month of November for billiards as Metro Manila plays host to both the Philippine National Pool Championships (NPC) and the World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC) in succession.

The month-long sportsfest will open on November 3-8 with the 4th National Pool Championships for men and women which the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines will organize in cooperation with Raya Sports and Star Billiards.

This will be followed by the 2nd World Ten Ball Championship of the World Pool-Billiard Association from November 19 to 30, which is expected to bring to Manila over 200 top players and hundreds of billiards officials and enthusiasts from all over the world.

Open to all Filipino billiard players, the NPC offers a total prize fund of P600,000, with the men’s champion receiving P150,000 and the women’s titlist getting P50,000. Trophies will also be given to the top three placers in both divisions. Cash prizes will be given up to 32nd place in the men’s division, and up to 16th place in the women’s division.

The first four rounds of the tournament will be held at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City from Nov. 3-6. The competition then moves to the SM North Edsa Annex from Nov.7-8, where the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be concluded.

The NPC is a 10-ball tournament under WPA rules. It features a double-elimination up to the Final Four, when the competition becomes a knockout affair.

The BSCP board and officers headed by Sebastian Chua (president) and Yen Makabenta (chairman) have set no player seedings and no limits to the number of players who can enter the national championships. They are inviting billiard clubs and associations all over the country to send their representatives to the tournament.

The entry fee in the men’s division is P600; in the women’s division, P300.

The defending champion in the men’s division is international titlist Marlon Manalo. In the women’s division, Zemonette Oryan is the reigning champion. Both will be defending their titles against a top-notch field of veterans and upcoming players.

Besides trophies and cash prizes, the NPC offers four guaranteed spots in the World Ten Ball Championship later in the month. Following tradition, the top four players in the tournament who are not yet qualified for the WTBC will be awarded the spots by Raya Sports.

Registration for the 2009 WPC will commence on Tuesday, September 22. Players should register with the following officials: Michael Tan at Star Billiards Center, Tel. 0909-2222225; Carlos Santos-Viola, BSCP, 0921-5014550; and Sol Gueco, Raya Sports, Tel. 0910-8875216. Provincial clubs and associations should send their entries direct to Mr. Santos-Viola, BSCP secretary-general.