Day Three gets touch of royalty
No wonder the player is accorded VIP treatment. He happens to be no less than the Crown Prince of Brunei.
Security was extra tight at the Araneta Coliseum yesterday with Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah plunging into action in the World Pool Championship.
European champion Thomas Engert, however, was hardly awed by the royal presence on the hall, dealing the Prince a 9-2 beating in the opening match in Group 10.
The Oxford-educated heir to the Sultan of Brunei needs to beat either Czech Roman Hybler or Lee Chenman of
A long convoy of bullet-proof vehicles with two lead motorcycle-riding escorts accompanied Billah from his elegant suite at the EDSA Shangrila-Hotel all the way to the Big Dome.
And while Billah was playing, barong-clad security men were all over the place.
The 34-year-old first born son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Queen Saleha made it to the tournament proper as a wild card entry for the second straight year.
He narrowly missed the knockout stage last year, beaten in a tiebreak using number of racks won in his group.
Billah has his own practice room and practice table within the Big Dome. He also has his practice table in his hotel room, provided by Sebastian Chua, the exclusive distributor of the popular
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Schedule of games has been moved to
ESPN is devoting over 60 hours of live and exclusive coverage of the world’s biggest and most prestigious pool competition.
A big number of international sportswriters are also covering the WPC.
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The Araneta Coliseum floor was re-designed to accommodate eight separate playing tables. No less than 40 matches are played each day in the elims. – Nelson Beltran
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