Bad blood in pool

The recent World Pool Championships, where Alex Pagulayan emerged victorious, proved that Filipino and Taiwanese cue artists are fierce rivals for global supremacy.

In the 41-nation tournament, there were 13 Taiwanese and 12 Filipino entries among 128 competitors.

To settle the score as to which country has the superior players, Solar Sports is staging the Philippines-Taiwan 9-Ball Challenge at the Robinson’s Galleria, Mandaluyong, on Aug. 24-26. Matches are scheduled from 2 to 9 p.m. for the three days. Solar Sports will air the action from 6 to 9 p.m. on Channel 29 cable TV and RPN.

A pot of $40,000–or P2.2 Million–will go to the winning team. The losing side will split $20,000 (P1.1 Million) in the first-ever showdown between Asia’s strongest billiards countries.

Pagulayan, Django Bustamante, Bata Reyes and Amang Parica won’t be on the Philippine squad. That’s motivation for the Solar Sports stars who’re out to prove their mettle against the five Taiwanese invaders.

Solar Sports billiards organizer Arnold Arandilla says the event will showcase a new generation of Filipino pool sharks against Taiwan’s best.

"For over a decade, the Philippines reigned supreme as Asia’s billiards superpower," says Arandilla. "But we’ve been challenged in recent years by Chinese-Taipei which has won the last two Asian Games gold medals in 9-ball. This duel will give our new Filipino pool stars the opportunity to prove their worth."

You’ve got to credit the Taiwan players for daring to challenge the local boys on hostile soil. It’s almost like returning the favor because Taipei hosted the last World Pool Championships where Filipinos had to compete under extremely unfriendly circumstances.

Pagulayan, in fact, walked into the hall for the finals match only to be greeted by a rabid Taiwan enthusiast holding up a poster with the words "go home" in screaming bold letters. Taiwan fans tried to rattle Filipino players by applauding mistakes–an act of discourtesy–and wildly cheering their countrymen during the nine-day joust.

The Taiwanese are expecting a reciprocal treatment from Filipino fans and they’re ready for war. If the Filipinos survived Taipei, the Taiwanese are determined to survive Manila.

The five Filipino stars are Marlon Manalo, Dennis (Surigao) Orcullo, Antonio (Nikoy) Lining, Antonio (Gaga) Gabica and Gandy (Yang Yang) Valle. Their counterparts are two-time Asian Games gold medalist Ching Shun Yang, two-time world champion Fong Pang Chao, this year’s losing world championship finalist Pei Wei Chang, Earl Strickland tormentor Po Cheng Kuo and reigning Asian Pocket Billiards Union 9-ball titlist CheWei Fu.

The visiting hustlers, fresh from participating in the Taiwan President’s this weekend, are arriving in two batches tomorrow. They’ll be razor-sharp for Manila, notes Arandilla.

Orcullo is the hottest Filipino player on the local money circuit. Two weeks ago, he beat Reyes twice in three encounters on three separate days and split his four meetings with Bustamante at two wins apiece. Hostilities were held at the Coronado Lanes on Pasay Road with bets ranging from P100,000 to P300,000 a match. Then, last week, Orcullo won the Saitama 9-ball Festival in Japan.

Before the World Championships, Orcullo upset Pagulayan to pocket over P1 Million, first at Coronado Lanes then at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Billiards Hall in Malate. Arandilla says the coming tournament could be Orcullo’s coming out party.

The first day of action will feature five matches–Lining vs. Yang, Gabica vs. Kuo, Valle vs. Fu, Orcullo vs. Chang and Manalo vs. Chao. The most interesting faceoff is Orcullo’s rematch against Chang. At the last World Championships, Orcullo lost to Chang in the round of 16.

The second day will also calendar five matches–Lining vs. Chao, Orcullo vs. Fu, Gabica vs. Chang, Valle vs. Kuo and Manalo vs. Yang. Fans can’t wait for the Manalo-Yang clash. Manalo shocked the top-seeded Yang in the round of 32 at the last World Championships then went on to upend Bustamante and Reyes in succession before losing to Marcus Chamat in the Round of 8. Yang has an axe to grind because it was Manalo who crushed his bid for the crown despite being the pre-tournament favorite.

The third day will feature the team competitions. The Philippines and Taiwan will split their lineup into two teams with two players each. Compositions will be announced on the day of the matches. It’s likely the Philippines will combine Lining and Manalo on one team and Orcullo and Gabica on another with Valle in reserve.

All matches will use the race-to-9, winner’s break format. In the head-to-head matches, the winner picks up two points and the loser one. In the team event, the winner earns four points and the loser two. At the end of the team competitions, all the points will be added up to determine the champion.

Arandilla says this will be a fight to the finish. National pride is at stake. Filipinos still can’t forgive Yang for taking the last two Asian Games gold medals in 9-ball and Chao for claiming two world titles. The stage is also set for personal vendettas. Yang is still smarting from the humiliating spanking he absorbed from Manalo at the last World Championships before a disappointed hometown crowd, Orcullo is looking to avenge his loss to Chang and Chang, who lost to Pagulayan in the finals, is out to pay back any Filipino in his path.

On top of all that drama, there’s a lot of cash to be pocketed. A dogfight couldn’t be better than this.