ShareThis
June 18, 2010 MANILA – The prestigious and tough Partypoker.net World Cup of Pool returns to Manila on Sept. 7-12 with Filipino pool icons Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante leading the way for the country’s bid alongside the pair of Dennis “Robocop” Orcollo and Roberto “Pinoy Superman” Gomez.
Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) founder Ceferino “Perry” Mariano and BMPAP chairman and Philippine Star editor-in-chief Isaac Belmonte said the Philippines gained the privilege of fielding two teams — Reyes and Bustamante for RP Team A and Orcollo and Gomez for RP Team B — by virtue of its being the host country. ”
I believe they’re our strongest bets,” Mariano said, referring to the pair of Reyes and Bustamante, as well as Orcollo and Gomez for performing great in this year’s international competition in Japan, Canada, and the United States. ”
I think we have a strong chance of retaining the World Cup of Pool crown,” added Aristeo “Putch” Puyat, BMPAP cofounder, acknowledged as RP’s billiards godfather.
The pair of Reyes and Bustamante, playing under the banner of Puyat Sports, ruled the 2006 inaugural edition in 2006 in Newport, England where they beat Americans Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris.
In 2009, Reyes and Bustamante rallied from a 7-9 deficit to beat the tandem of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, 11-9, of Germany to reclaim their coveted title en route to the US$ 60,000 first prize in the 32- Billiards: Reyes, Bustamante, Orcollo banner RP’s bid in World Cup of Pool bid team field from 31 countries held at the SM North Edsa Annex in Quezon City. Reyes, the 2010 Player of the Decade, said, “The key is really listening to your teammate. But this kind of tournament is difficult to predict because some of the strongest teams may not do well and the perceived weak teams may play really well.”
The entire event will be broadcast by Solar Sports live across the Philippines with the live feed of the tournament available internationally. In addition Matchroom Sport will be producing a 31 x one-hour highlights package of the event. Meanwhile, Matchroom Sport chairman Barry Hearn commented, “We are delighted to be returning to the Philippines after having enjoyed last year one of the greatest pool tournaments we have ever promoted.
“Solar Sports did a fantastic job bringing all the drama and excitement of the tournament to the screen and the large, enthusiastic crowds created an atmosphere unlike any I have ever seen at a pool tournament.” Hearn added, “The World Cup of Pool is fast becoming the biggest pool tournament in the world and we are delighted to see its continued growth in Asia and around the world.” Other stars of the pool world scheduled to take part include world champions Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann of Germany, Daryl Peach and Karl Boyes of England, Johnny Archer of the U.S. and Mika Immonen of Finland. Other top draws appearing in Manila are Marcus Chamat (Sweden), Niels Feijen (Holland), Tony Drago (Malta) and a host of big names to be announced later. Europe will be represented by 15 countries, including Austria, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, for the Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2.
Thirteen countries from Asia will be participating in the event, namely China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines 1, host Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. The rest of the participants will be coming from Australia, Canada, the US and Qatar from the Middle East.