Top cue artists to compete in SEAG

Top local cue artists Efren "Bata" Reyes, Leonardo "Dodong" Andam and Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat are willing to skip lucrative tournaments in the United States to play for flag and country in the Southeast Asian Games in September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mario Roxas, spokesperson of Puyat Sports which manages the career of the three ace pool players, made the announcement yesterday, saying that Reyes, Andam and Luat are only awaiting for a formal invitation from the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines to guarantee their participation in the SEAG.

"They have said even last year that they are always available for this year’s SEA Games," said Roxas. "The only thing barring them from doing so is that they have yet to receive a formal invitation from the BSCP."

BSCP president Ernesto Fajardo had earlier indicated that the trio, who won four of the five gold medals staked in the sport in the 1999 Brunei SEAG, will be given automatic slots in the RP team seeing action in this year’s SEA Games.

Roxas said they have already arranged the schedule of the three as early as January and they see no problem why they couldn’t join the RP delegation in Kuala Lumpur.

"We foresee no problem at all in as far as commitments of the three in other tournaments are concerned since the biggest pool event, the World Championships, will be held ahead of the SEAG," said Roxas.

The only problem they might encounter is the US Open, which is set in September. But Roxas stressed that Reyes, Andam and Luat are willing to sacrifice that for the SEA Games.

"There might be a conflict of schedule between the SEAG and the US Open but the three have signified their intention to play in the former," he added.

Francisco "Django" Bustamante, the other ace player, however, will not be available for the SEAG due to a previous commitment. The Germany-based Bustamante also skipped the Brunei Games.

With Reyes, Andam and Luat at the helm of the billiards team, the Philippines’ gold medal chances appears bright with other potential golds likely to come from taekwondo, fencing, golf, judo, boxing, wushu, shooting and athletics.