Deeper, Better WTBC Gets Underway

Above: The World Ten Ball presscon

DEFENDING champion Darren Appleton of Great Britain believes a win in the 2^nd World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC) will be sweeter the second time around.

“I’m not saying that last year was not great. I just think that the competition this year will be up by another level,” he said.

World’s top ranked player Ralf Souquet of Germany goes to the extreme.

“This could be the best-ever field in world championship history,” said Souquet, who is gunning for pool’s version of the Triple Crown. He is the 1996 world champion in 9-ball and the reigning world champ in 8-ball.

Souquet and Appleton are the top two seeds in the WTBC, which unfolds with the group stages on Wednesday at the World Trade Center in Manila. Souquet will face Thomasz Kaplan of Poland in Group A while Appleton will play Tey Choon Kiat of Singapore in Group B in the first round.

The 128 players in the main draw are divided into 16 groups headed by the top seeds based on the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPBA) ranking.

In order, they are Souquet, Appleton, Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, Mika Immonen of Finland, Shane Van Boening of the United States, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Jeffrey De Luna, Demosthenes Pulpul, Daryl Peach of Great Britain, Jerico Banares, Ko Pin-yi of Chinese Taipei, Marlon Manalo, Charlie Williams of the United States, Radoslaw Babica of Poland and Lu Hui-chan and Fu Che-wei of Chinese Taipei.

The first phase of the tournament will be double elimination with the four survivors from each group advancing to the next round. With only eight players per group, two wins are enough to move on.

The Last 64 will be single elimination. Loser goes home.

Chances are there will be a lot of Filipinos in the knockout round. There are 20 of them in the group stage – Dennis Orcollo and Steve Villamil in Group A, Allan Cuartero in Group C, Emil Martinez in Group F, De Luna and Jomar De Ocampo in Group G, Pulpul and Ronnie Alcano in Group H, Lee Vann Corteza in Group I, Banares and Jundel Mazon in Group J, Antonio Gabica in Group K, Manalo and Ramil Gallego in Group L, Roberto Gomez in Group M, Warren Kiamco and Michael Feliciano in Group N, Carlo Biado and Antonio Lining in Group O, and Victor Arpilleda in Group P.

Pulpul, a semifinalist and the best Filipino finisher in last year’s WTBC, will face tough opposition to make it to the knockout round.

The luck of the draw, or his lack of it, pits him against former world 9-ball champ and many-time US Open winner Johnny Archer of the United States in the first round of Group H.

If he wins, he will be up against the winner between two-time world champion Ronnie Alcano and Chinese Dang Jin-hu. If he loses, he will face the loser between Alcano and Dang in a knockout match.

Pulpul’s group also includes 2007 World Pool Championship semifinalist Karl Boyes of Great Britain and Taiwanese Cheng Tsung-Hua.

De Luna, the top ranked Filipino in the field at seventh, will have an easier time as he goes up against Mehmet Cankurt of Turkey in the first round of Group G.

His group also includes De Ocampo, who will first meet Wang Hung-Hsiang of Chinese Taipei.

Orcullo, arguably the best player in the world without a major tournament title, opens his bid against Villamil in Group A. A win will set him up for a potential showdown against Souquet.

There will also be an all-Filipino affair in the opening round of Group J with Banares taking on Mazon.

Manalo, another marquee player without a major title, tackles American Stevie Moore in the first round of Group L. Waiting for him in the next round is either former world champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany or Ryu Seung Woo of Korea.

Gallego is on the other half of the draw in Group L. His first assignment will be Chang Yu-Lung of Chinese Taipei.

The other first round matches involving Filipinos pit Cuartero against Naoyuki Ooi of Japan in Group C, Martinez against David Alcaide of Spain in Group F, Corteza against Vegar Kristiansen of Norway in Group I, Gabica against Ralf Mund of Germany in Group K, Gomez against Alphonse Hoge of South Africa in Group M, Kiamco against Phil Burford of Great Britain and Feliciano against Rafael Guzman of Spain in Group N, Lining against Lu Hui-chan of Chinese Taipei and Biado against Liu Haitao of China in Group O, and Arpilleda against Kasper Kristoffersen of Denmark in Group P.

While the locals have the numbers, the visitors have the titles.

All four of the world championships in pool belong to European players. Peach holds the world 9-ball title while Feijen is the current world straight pool champ. And Appleton and Souquet own the world 10-ball and 8-ball crowns, respectively.

But none of them is hotter than Immonen.

The player called the “Iceman” because of his cool demeanor recently won his second straight US Open title. He also ruled two other international tournaments this year.

Immonen may prove too much for Basher Hussain of Qatar in the opening round of Group D.

Peach is heavily favored against Lee Poh Soon of Malaysia in the opener of Group I. Feijen, however, is expected to have his hands full against former snooker ace Scott Higgins of Great Britain in Group C.

Also fancied to advance are usual suspects Kuo Po-cheng of Chinese Taipei from Group A, Nick van den Berg of the Netherlands from Group B, Chang Pei-Wei of Chinese Taipei from Group C, Oliver Ortmann of Germany from Group D, Yang Ching-Shun of Chinese Taipei from Group I, Ricky Yang of Indonesia from Group M, Corey Deuel of the United States from Group N, and Thomas Engert of Germany from Group P.

Lining Rebounds, Martinez Makes It

From l to r: Antonio Lining and Emil Martinez

JUNDEL Mazon was right after all. It’s hard to beat Antonio Lining in a tight match.

A day after getting blown out by Mazon, Lining grinded his way to the WTBC main draw with a pulsating 9-8 victory over Han Hao Xiang of China in Qualifier 8 final Sunday night at the Star Billiards Center.

Mazon related on Saturday that the key to beat Lining is to build a big lead early in the match. Han failed to do that and Lining made him pay.

The hill-hill thriller lasted 2 ½ hours, the longest in the qualifying sessions with two events to play.

The pride of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro became the sixth Filipino qualifier in the only world championship in pool this year. The number of Filipinos in the main draw also swelled to 17. The locals took the last four seats in the qualifying sessions.

Earlier Sunday, Emil Martinez toppled Kazuo Furuta of Japan in the Qualifier 7 final, 9-5, to keep the Filipino streak alive.

It was easily the biggest triumph in the pool career of Martinez , a virtual nobody heading into the competition.

The other Filipino qualifiers are Ramil Gallego, Michael Feliciano, Roberto Gomez and Mazon. The only foreigners to enter the main draw through the qualifying round are Wang Ming of China and Chang Pei-wei of Chinese Taipei .

It’s a pretty remarkable run by the Filipinos considering that more than a hundred foreign players entered the qualifying sessions, including those from noted pool playing nations like Japan , Chinese Taipei, Great Britain , Indonesia and China .

Filipinos Rule Qualifiers 5 and 6

Above: Roberto Gomez

FILIPINOS took both qualifiers on Day 3 of the qualifying round of the World Ten Ball Championship at the Star Billiards Center on Saturday.

Jundel Mazon and Roberto Gomez prevailed in two all-Filipino finals that showed growing dominance by the locals of the qualifiers. With their victories, the Philippines has now won four of the six WTBC spots up for competition. The other two spots were won by China and Chinese Taipei.

In Qualifier 5, Mazon overwhelmed veteran campaigner Antonio Lining, 9-3, while Gomez outlasted Mario Tolentino in Qualifier 6, 9-7.

Pitted against a more accomplished opponent, Mazon took the initiative with aggressive play. He raced to an early lead, and whenever Lining would take a rack, Mazon would storm ahead.

The match closed with Mazon taking the last four racks.

“I had to be aggressive and put some distance between us early,” said Macon. “I know it’s hard to beat Lining in a close match.”

The Qualifier 6 Finals was much closer. After winning the opening rack, Gomez found himself trailing 2-5 against Tolentino, a veteran and coach of the BSCP national team.

Gomez, a finalist in the 2007 World Pool Championship, climbed back into contention by clustering several racks. Down the stretch he took the lead and did not give it back until the finish.

By earning a berth in the 2009 WTBC, Gomez has a chance to duplicate and even better his feat in 2007, when he rose from the qualifying round all the way to the finals of the WPC.

WTBC Feature: Star Billiards Center: A Pool Player’s Paradise

Pictured above: The Star Billiards Center and exterior

BILLIARDS players and enthusiasts from all over the globe are having a grand time at the bigger and better Star Billiards Center in Quezon City.

“This is a pool player’s paradise,” said veteran sports anchor Ted Lerner, who accompanied World 8-ball Champion Ralf Souquet of Germany in visiting the state-of-the-art venue of the qualifying sessions for the World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC).

Souquet is one of the fancied players in the WTBC slated on Nov. 25 to 30 at the World Trade Center in Manila.

“Star Billiards Center is the only place dedicated to billiards where everything is free,” said Lerner.

Almost everything. Of course, the imported cue sticks on display there are for sale.

Here are some of Star Billiards Center’s freebies: internet use, overseas calls to the United States and Canada, mobile phone charging (any brand), soft drinks and biscuits.

The players can play at any of 40 world-class pool tables for free. There’s also a giant plasma television to keep spectators from getting bored.

Its owner and Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines president Sebastian “Baste” Chua also added a portion to the left side of the lavish pool hall where fans can get a bird’s eye-view of actions on 16 Brunswick tables.

The down-to-earth billiards patron shelled out nearly P10-million to complete the addition.

Selected actions on that side of the pool hall can be seen online through www.clubcapo.tv, a professional provider of high-quality video streaming of pool and other events.

Feliciano, Chang Earn WTBC Spots

From l to r: Michael Feliciano and Chang Pei Wei

MICHAEL Feliciano of the Philippines and Chang Pe Wei of Chinese Taipei won spots in the WTBC in Day 2 of the ongoing qualifiers at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City.

Feliciano, a native of Laguna province and a member of the Bugsy Promotions group of players, took Qualifier 3 by beating Dang Jinhu of China 9-6. He showed poise and skill in winning six straight matches against a tough field of Asian and European players.

Dang was a runner-up for the second straight qualifier he joined. He is a leading candidate for any spot that may open up should any player withdraw from the main draw of the WTBC.

In Qualifier 4, the usually formidable contingent of Taiwanese players showed their class. Chang, the runner-up in the 2004 World Pool Championship, outclassed Mick Hill of Great Britain by the score of 9-2.

Hill was impressive in his run to the finals with victories over two Filipino veterans, Antonio Lining and Mario Tolentino.

Feliciano and Chang earned $500 each for their triumphs in the qualifiers.

Action continues today (November 21) at the Star Billiards Center with two spots up for competition in Qualifiers 5 and 6.

China, Philippines Take First Two Qualifiers

From l to r: Ramil Gallego and Wang Ming

WANG Ming of China and Ramil Gallego of the Philippines took top honors on Thursday in the first two qualifiers of the 2nd World Ten Ball Championship at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City.

Wang beat compatriot Dang Jinhu 9-8 to book a seat in the main draw (Stage 2) of the WTBC. In addition, he was awarded the qualifier purse of $500.

Qualifier 1 was a stunner as the 10-man Chinese contingent took all four places in the semifinals, outlasting entries from Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, India, France and Great Britain. The other Chinese semifinalists were Dai Yung and Guo Hoa.

In Qualifier 2, it was the turn of host Philippines to dominate. Ramil Gallego, Roberto Gomez, Arnel Bautista and Rodrigo Geronimo took all the places in the Final Four.

In the finals, international veteran Gallego hurdled past former WPC runner-up Roberto Gomez, 9-7, to take the WTBC spot and the qualifier prize of $500.

Action continues today Friday, with Qualifiers 3 and 4 up for competition.