ACKDO Supports QC Vs The World Grand Billiards Showdown

The QC-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown received another boost with the Association of Clubs, Karaoke and Disco Operators (ACKDO) throwing its all-out support to the much-anticipated event slated December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City .

With promoting Quezon City as the country’s sports tourism capital, ACKDO did not think twice in backing the project when approached by its chief proponent, City Council Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton.

“We are very happy to be part of this big event. Entertainment is one of the premier tourist attractions here in Quezon City, so we in the industry are giving our all-out support to this project, which in more than one way will also benefit us,” said ACKDO secretary-general Amil Yap.

ACKDO has been supporting a number of sports events, including the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP)'s Search for the New Billiards Idol series.

Also known as the “City of Stars ”, Quezon City boasts of having the biggest and liveliest entertainment spots in the country.

Already home to major television broadcasting networks, including giants ABS-CBN and GMA-7, Quezon City also houses dozens of restaurants, bars, night clubs, massage parlors, KTVs and the likes.

Pool icon Efren “Bata” Reyes banners the eight-man Team Q.C.-Philippines, which will pit prowess against a selection of topnotch cue artists from other countries in this three-day competition supported by the Quezon City Government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte, QC Tourism Council headed by chairman Raffy Chico, and BMPAP with Solar Sports, RPN and the Philippine Star as media partners.

Besides Reyes, the other members of the Team QC Philippines are fellow former world champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, reigning world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

They will go up against a foreign team also led by three former world titlists in Chia-Ching Wu of Chinese-Taipei, Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany. The other players of Team World are 2006 Asian Games gold medalist Satoshi Kawabata of Japan , Ching-Shun Yang of Chinese-Taipei, and Charlie William and Rodney Morris of the United States and another top European player.

They will compete for the $40,000 winner purse.

World 9-Ball tourney won't happen in Manila in November

Matchroom Sport has told world pool officials that it will not stage the World 9-Ball Pool Championship (WPC) in Manila this November since it failed to get sponsors for the event, information reaching abs-cbnNEWS.com said Wednesday.

"The Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) claim that the WPC would be held in Manila was just talk," the text message said.

According to Matchroom, it hopes to revive the WPC early next year. A check on the Matchroom Web site (http://matchroomsport.com) provided a November 1-9 date for the WPC. However, it said that the venue was "to be confirmed."

In a related development, Manila-based sports analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz was able get a reaction from Matchroom media director Luke Riches regarding the event's postponement. “The WPC is not dead yet. But most likely it will be early 2009 [when it will be staged again]," Nathanielsz quoted Riches as saying.

Reached for comment, Perry Mariano, one of the founders of the BMPAP, said that he has yet to be informed of Riches' statement. He clarified that as of last report, the WPC merely lost its venue after Senate President Manuel Villar backed out as one of the event's main sponsors. "We got 50 percent but the other 50 percent, was supposed to come from Senator Villar. So nawala ang 50 percent," Mariano told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

Mariano, however, clarified that they are doing everything they can to follow-up the pledges from potential sponsors so that the WPC will take place as scheduled.

Despite Villar's withdrawal of support, Mariano said nothing is final yet. "We're still trying to convince the senator pero siyempre hindi na kamukha noon," he said, adding that politics may have been the main reason behind Villar's withdrawal. At any rate, Mariano said, "it's still Villar's money." "Pera niya 'yon. Wala pa siyang pinipirmahan. Hanggang walang dokumentong pirmado, everything is in limbo," Mariano said.

The WPC held in Manila last year saw England's Daryl Peach beating hometown hero Roberto Gomez, 17-15, in the finals.

Previous Filipino winners of the WPC were Efren “Bata” Reyes (1994), Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan (2005) and Ronnie "The Volcano" Alcano (2006).

Gomez, 2 Others Vie in Fujairah Tilt

Newly-crowned Villar Cup champion Roberto “Superman” Gomez, along with fellow Bugsy boys Ronnie Alcano and Gandy Valle left the country yesterday to compete in the Ramadan 9-Ball Invitational Championship starting today in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

After breaking out from a string of runner-up finishes with that title romp in the Davao leg of the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup, Gomez hopes to sustain his topnotch form, reap more crowns and affirm his tag as one of the country’s best cue artists today.

“I hope to continue the momentum I’ve got from my Villar Cup victory.” said the 29-year-old Gomez, who rose to prominence with his runner-up finish in the 2007 World Pool Championship.

The three Filipinos, whose campaign is supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines and Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports, were personally invited by the organizers to compete against some of the world’s top players for the $10,000 top purse in this five-day event.

Like Gomez, Valle is also looking to sustain his good performance this year, which started after he ruled the Villar Cup Cebu Leg in June.

“I want this 2008 to become a bounce back year for me, and I hope I could win more tournaments before it ends,” said Valle, who was the runner-up to Gomez in the Villar Cup Davao Leg.

Alcano, on the other hand, will break into the tournament looking to snap a long title drought.

The former double world champion has not won a title since reigning in the 2007 World 8-Ball Championship held in Fujairah.

“It was there in Fujairah where I last won a title. So I hope it will also be there where I will start winning again,” said Alcano.

Gomez, Alcano, Valle launch campaign at Ramadan 9-Ball

Filipino cue artists Roberto Gomez, Ronnie Alcano and Gandy Valle opens their campaign Tuesday for the Ramadan 9-Ball Invitational Championship in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

A report on AzBilliards.com said Gomez is hoping to ride on his momentum following his successful stint at the Davao leg of the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup.

“I hope to continue the momentum I’ve got from my Villar Cup victory,” said the 29-year-old Gomez, who rose to prominence with his runner-up finish in the 2007 World Pool Championship.

Like Gomez, Valle is also looking to sustain his good performance this year, which started after ruling the Villar Cup Cebu Leg in June.

“I want this 2008 to become a bounce back year for me, and I hope I could win more tournaments before it ends,” said Valle, who was the runner-up to Gomez in the Villar Cup Davao Leg.

Alcano, on the other hand, will break into the tournament looking to end a long title drought.

The former double world champion has not won a title since reigning in the 2007 World 8-Ball Championship held in Fujairah.

“It was there in Fujairah where I last won a title. So I hope it will also be there where I will start winning again,” said Alcano.

BMPAP petitions Ombudsman to probe BSCP

Officials of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines are facing charges of malversation of funds allegedly committed when they hosted the World Pool Championship two years ago.

The Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines Thursday filed a petition before the Ombudsman to determine whether public funds were technically misappropriated when the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) financially supported the staging in 2006 and 2007 of the WPC, which was organized by the BSCP and Raya Sports.

The BMPAP said there was conflict of interest when BSCP and Raya Sports, the private firm responsible for marketing the WPC, solicited public funds intended for the biggest nine-ball competition in the world.

BSCP chair and Raya Sports president Florentino “Yen” Makabenta said he hasn’t heard about the complaint and would issue a statement as soon as his lawyers get a copy of BMPAP’s petition.

“We need a copy of the complaint. We can’t react without it,” Makabenta told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Cue artist Roberto Gomez, last year’s WPC runner-up, signed the petition and personally handed it to Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni.

Gomez was accompanied by former world champion Alex Pagulayan, billiards player Carlo Biado and BMPAP lawyers Michael Mejia and Jerome De Guzman.

“We write not to besmirch the reputation of Pagcor, BSCP and Raya and their respective officials,” said Gomez.

The petitioners declared it received information that a fraction of the Philippine Sports Commission’s share in the gross income of Pagcor “was not remitted but was instead used for the sponsorship of the WPC.”

Gomez rules Davao leg

Finally, the Superman soared high. Roberto Gomez, called Superman, finally broke out from a series of runner-up finishes as he defeated former champion and top hometown bet Gandy Valle, 11-4, in the finals of the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup Davao City leg.

The Gomez-Valle showdown was an all-Bugsy finals and was played before a mammoth Saturday crowd at the Atrium of Gaisano Mall. The Davao fans were hoping to see Valle win, but it was Gomez who took home the crown after the lopsided titular clash.

It was a breakthrough feat for Gomez, the 29-year-old pride of Zamboanga who rose to prominence -- albeit with a sour distinction, when he came up second in the 2007 World Pool Championship in Manila, losing to Englishman Darryl Peach in the finals riddled with "comedy of errors."

"Finally!" screamed Gomez, who romped off to a strong start and did not give Valle an opportunity to recover en route to becoming the fourth winner of this topnotch island-hopping series presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports in partnership with the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP).

Gomez received the P300,000 top purse from Villar during the awarding ceremony, also graced by Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte and Davao Representative Vincent Garcia, as well as former Cavite congressman Gilbert Remulla. Valle, the champion of the Villar Cup Cebu Leg last June, settled for the second-place honor and the P120,000 cash prize at stake in this three-day tournament sponsored by Camella Communities.

"I'm so sick and tired of always being a runner-up, which I've been almost a dozen of times, including that World Pool defeat, which continues to haunt me up to now," said Gomez, one of the top players of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano. "So when I entered the finals, I told myself that there's no way I'm going to let this one slip away and I'll do all my best to win. Thank God I did," he added.

Gomez lost the lag but took the opening rack after Valle missed a tough-angled shot of the red-3. That ignited Gomez's run, where he scored seven of the first nine racks for a commanding 7-2 lead.

Valle, easily the favorite of the close to 7,000 Davaoeño crowd to win the crown, could only add two more racks across his name as he failed in his bid to become the first double winner of the series. "I really wanted to win this for my fellow Davaoeños, but breaks didn't come my way," said Valle, a former Asian Games gold medalist.

Before facing Valle, Gomez had to endure a tough grind. He opened his campaign by beating two-time world juniors campaigner Rene Mar David, 9-4, before repulsing another rising star Elmer Haya, 9-6, in the second round. That set him up with a quarterfinals encounter with former double world champion Ronnie Alcano, whom he narrowly beat, 9-7. In the semis, Gomez got off to a good start but had a hard time in disposing off reigning world no.1 Dennis Orcollo before escaping with a 10-7 win.

Valle made it to the finals by subduing stablemate Carlo Biado, 10-8, in their Final Four match.

Gomez ends title drought in Davao

DAVAO CITY—There was no denying Roberto Gomez this time.

Gomez, best remembered for winding up runner-up in the 2007 World Pool Championship, routed local pool idol Gandy Valle, 11-4, Saturday night to rule the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup Davao leg at the Atrium of Gaisano Mall here.

“Finally!” screamed Gomez, after Valle threw in the towel even with two balls left in the final rack, handing Zamboanga’s pride the crown and the P300,000 that goes with it.

The 29-year-old Gomez, who faltered in the crucial stages of the WPC finals against Englishman Darryl Peach, breezed to a 7-2 lead and was never threatened by Valle, the Cebu leg winner of the island-hopping series presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports in partnership with the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP).

Valle settled for second and P120,000 in the tournament backed by Camella Communities.

“I’m so sick and tired of always being a runner-up, which I’ve been almost a dozen of times,” said Gomez, admitting that the World Pool defeat continues to haunt him.

Gomez lost the lag but won the opening rack after Valle missed a tough-angled shot on the red-3, sparking the runaway win that somewhat disappointed the nearly 7,000 fans.

“I really wanted to win this for my fellow Davaoeños, but breaks didn’t come my way,” said Valle, a former Asian Games gold medalist.

En route to the finals, Gomez beat two-time World Juniors campaigner Rene Mar David, 9-4, in the opener; rising star Elmer Haya, 9-6, in the second round; former double world champion Ronnie Alcano, 9-7, in the quarterfinals; and world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, 10-7, in the semifinals.