Pool patron, Igan enliven sports scene

Saturday and Sunday last week was another one of those weekends where I had my hands full joyfully fulfilling an obligation to write this column. One reason for the joy is that the sports on tap that weekend were golf and billiards, both of which I am not good at but which I thoroughly enjoy playing and watching.

The other reason is that I value the friendship of the people behind both events.

Saturday afternoon, I joined about 80 other golfers at the short but narrow and water-laden and soaked fairways of the par-68 Intramuros golf course in the historic old walled city of Manila for the iGAN Foundation Golf Cup. I am told that iGAN is the shortened version of the Pilipino word “kaibigan” or friend.

The iGAN Foundation is the brainchild of radio and TV newscaster and public service anchor Arnold Clavio who was moved by the stories about children with life-threatening diseases he covered as a reporter of News and Public Affairs of network giant, GMA.

Clavio believes that such children deserve a meaningful life despite the serious challenges they are confronted with. iGan Foundation aims to help lessen the suffering of these children and inspire them to focus on the future.

More on the iGAN Foundation Cup next week and in the meantime, I will fast forward to Sunday when I visited the Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, Quezon City, at the invitation of businessman-entrepreneur Sebastian (Baste) Chua on the occasion of the 2007 Manila World Pool Championship (WPC) qualifiers that began on Saturday.

The qualifying round is the prelude to the WPC that will be held at the Araneta Coliseum from Nov. 3 to 11, 2007, with cash prizes amounting to $400,000. The qualifiers attracted a record number of 160 players from 60 countries.

Chua, owner of Star Paper Corp.,has combined his solid contributions to Philippine billiards development with entrepreneurship by representing a number of outfits involved in billiards: Brunswick Billiards of USA; Predator Cues of USA; Aramith billiard balls of Belgium, Iwan Simonis Table Cloth of Belgium and Y.T.T . Table Cloth of Taiwan.

The amiable Chua joined forces with the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) president, Ernie Fajardo (family friend of way back and whom I met again through an old time buddy, Quinnie Boy Tagle, then secretary general of the BSCP, when I was chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission) and other BSCP officials and journalist Yen Makabenta.

Makabenta is president of Raya Sports and Events which organizes and promotes the annual BSCP National Pool Championships in the Philippines. Raya is a division of Prism Strategic Communications which is engaged in communications management, policy research and publishing.

Four top-seeded Filipino and Taiwanese players will see action on day one, Nov. 3 of the 2007 WPC at the Big Dome. Defending champion Ronnie Alcano, 1999 world champion Bata Reyes, 2005 champion Wu Chia-ching and Asia money-game king Yang Ching-shun lead the 32 players who will play on the first day.

Alcano begins his title-retention bid against Saeed Ahmed Al-Mutawa, reigning champion of the United Arab Emirates in Group One of the elimination round.

The top seed in Group 6, Reyes battles one of the players emerging from the qualifiers now going on at Chua’s Star Billiards Center.

According to Raya Sports, 45 countries will be represented in the nine-day championships. Matchroom Sport, international organizers of pool’s most prestigious and biggest event of the year, has announced that 120 players have officially qualified for the main draw of the tournament. Fifteen players are from the States, 12 from the Philippines, eight each from Chinese-Taipei and Germany, seven from England and five from Canada.

Raya says that Prince Al Muhtadee Billah, the crown prince of Brunei, will again represent his country in the competition. Last year, the prince made it to the Group of 64 in the WPC. While in Manila, he will also make an official visit to the Philippines.

Wu, the top seed in Group three, goes up against Carlos Castro of Nicaragua, while Yang will test the mettle of a player emerging from the qualifiers.