Philippine Billiards

This BlogSite is for all Philippine Billiard fans. Most articles would be news regarding Philippine cue-artists' conquest of the world via the pool table. Ratings of top-billed Pinoy billiard players and features on budding stars would be posted too.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Rubilen Amit Loses In Women's World 9-Ball Finals

Tao-Yuan, Taiwan - Rubilen Amit landed second place in the 2007 Amway Women's World 9-Ball Championship.

Amit lost to Xiao-Ting Pan of China in the finals in the score of 5-11.

Amit was a revelation in the tournament. Virtually unknown, she conquered big names in the tournament. She defeated Japanese Yukiko Hamanishi in the semis, 9-6. She also defeated two-time World 9-Ball Champion Ga-Young Kim of Kore in the quarterfinals, 7-2.

Amit took home $10,000 for the win and the beautiful Pan of China took home $20,000.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Filipinos Dominate The 2007 Derby City Classic

Executive West Hotel, Louisville, KY - The famous Derby City Classic which ran January4-13, proved to be a great year opener for Filipino cue-masters.

Derby City Classic Bank Pool Event
"The Magician" Efren Reyes, succumbed to American Steve Moore in the finals. Moore took home $10,000 while Reyes settled for a nice $5,000 pay.Filipino veteran and 2006 US 9-Ball Open runner-up, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat finished 3rd for $3,000.

Derby City Classic One Pocket Event
Efren Reyes avenged his Bank Pool Finals loss via dominating the One Pocket Event. Reyes, a One Pocket Hall of Fame awardee, stomped his class by going through the entire event undefeated. Efren took $12,000 by winning against Cliff Joyner in the finals. Joyner took $6,000 for finishing 2nd. Another Filipino great, Francisco "Django" Bustamante took 3rd place and $3,600.

Derby City Classic 9-Ball Event
Three-time European Straight Pool Champ, Holland's Niels "The Terminator" Feijen, captured the 9-Ball Event by defeating Rodolfo Luat in the finals. Feijen took home $16,800 while Luat has $8,400. Django Bustamante who placed 3rd took $4,400.

Derby City Classic Master of the Table
The eventual Master of the Table (given to the best performer in all 3 events) is "The Magician" Efren "Bata" Reyes. He took a bonus price of $20,000. Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat placed 2nd with a bonus of $3,000. Francisco "Django" Bustamante placed 3rd with a bonus of $2,000.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Top Philippine Billiard Players of 2006


1. "The Magician" Efren Reyes
1st - 2006 Asian 9-Ball Tour Jakarta Leg
1st - 2006 IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship
1st - 2006 World Cup of Pool
4th - 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship
1st - Derby City Classic, One Pocket Event
1st - 2006 Asian 9-Ball Tour Ho Chi Minh City Leg
2nd - Derby City Classic, Master of the Table

2. Dennis "Surigao" Orcullo
1st - 2006 World Pool League
5th - 2006 IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship
3rd - 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship
1st - World (9-Ball) Championship Bar Table Tournament
1st - US Bar Table Championship, 8-Ball
1st - 43rd Annual Reno Open

3. Ronato "The Volcano" Alcano
1st - 2006 World Pool championship

4. "Marvelous" Marlon Manalo
2nd - 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship

5. Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica
2nd - 2006 Doha Asian Games Men's 8-Ball Pool-Singles
1st - 2006 Doha Asian Games Men's 9-Ball Pool-Singles

6T. Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat
2nd - 31st Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships
1st - 2006 Asian 9-Ball Tour Kaohsiung Leg
Qtrs - 2006 World Pool Championship

6T. Francisco "Django" Bustamante
1st - World Cup of Pool
1st - 2006 San Miguel Philippine 9-Ball Open

7. Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan
1st - BSCP National Pool Championship
2nd - 2nd SML Open 9-Ball Championship
2nd - 2006 World Pool Masters

8. Lee Van "Van-Van" Corteza
1st - 39th All Japan Championship

9. Jeff "Bata" De Luna
2nd - 2006 Doha Asian Games Men's 9-Ball Pool-Singles

10. Antonio "Nickoy" Lining
1st - Japan Open 9-Ball Billiards Championship

Philipppines Dominates Asiad 9-Ball; Gabica Grabbed 2 Medals

Al-Sadd Sports Club, Doha, Qatar - The Philippines dominated the Men's 9-Ball Pool-Singles event in the recently concluded 2006 Asian Games. Filipinos Antonio "Gaga" Gabica and Jeffrey "Bata" De Luna contested for the gold medal with Gabica winning out with an 11-7 score. In the semis, Gabica defeated Korean Jeoung Young Hwa while De Luna defeats eventual bronze medalist Taiwanese Yang Ching Shun.

The win was Gabica's way making out for his loss in the Men's 8-Ball Pool-Singles finals, where he settled for the silver medal, against Japanese Satoshi Kawabata, the match ended with a score of 7-9. In the semis, Kawabata defeated another Filipino in the person of Dodong "The Rattlesnake" Andam while Gabica defeated eventual bronze medalist Taiwanese Huang Kung Chang.

Gabica took home 1 gold and 1 silver and should be rewarded with Php2.3Million ($46,000) while de Luna takes home 1 silver worth Php800,000 ($16,000). The cash prizes are incentives to be given by the Philippine government to all Asiad medalists.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Corteza Wins All Japan

Hotel New Archaic in Hyogo, Japan - Lee Van "VanVan" Corteza tops the 39th All Japan Championships to pocket the top purse equivalent to $20,000.

Corteza defeated former World Pool Championships runner-up Chang Pei-wei of Chinese Taipei, 11-3, in the finals to win the championship. He also beat for mwer World Pool Champion Mika Immonen of Finland, 9-5, and local bets Japanese T. Tobo, 9-0, and A. Shiraiwa, 9-2, in the earlier rounds to reach the finals.

Other big guns who saw action were former World Pool Champions Wu Chia-ching of Chinese Taipei and Ralf Souquet of Germany.

Friday, November 03, 2006

2006 World Pool Championship
PICC, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines (Oct 27 - Nov 11, 2006)

Last 32
The Philippines campaign took a big blow in the round of 32. Almost every Filipino got eliminated including Pinoy top bets Efren Reyes and Marlon Manalo. Reyes was defeated by compariot Ronato Alcano 7-10 and Manalo was defeated by Taiwan's Kuo Po Cheng 7-10.


Only 3 Filipinos were left for the round of 16 (18.75%). Alcano, lone remaining big gun Rodolfo Luat and a budding talent, 22-yrs old Jeff De Luna.

The Taiwanese also suffered big losses in the defeat of former world champion Fong Pang Chao and Taiwanese big gun Yang Ching Shun.

Last 64
The Filipino campaign for the world crown did farely well in the round of 64, but not without major losses. 8 of 12 Filipinos got through to the next round but a couple of big guns got eliminated. Erstwhile Dennis Orcullo was necessarily defeated by the sentimental favorite Efren Reyes 6-10. But the bigger loss was of another previously undefeated Filipino, Francisco Bustamante, who was defeated by Germany's Thomas Engert 7-10.

The Philippines was not the only country who suffered big losses today. USA had no one left after this round, after notable players like Johnny Archer and the volatile Earl Strickland, both former world champions, got knocked out. Germany suffered big too, as former world champions Thorsten Hohmann and Oliver Ortmann were also eliminated.

8 of 32 players remaining are Filipino, making the Filipinos compose 25.00% of the field.

Judgement Day
The dust have already settled and many Filipino cue-masters have fallen by the wayside. Primary of which is 2004 World Champion Alex Pagulayan. Alex lost to Taiwanese Lee Kun Fang in a hill-hill thriller, which saw the Taiwanese advancing to the next round.

A couple of lucky Pinoy players squeaked pass with just win like Jharome Pena and Ronato Alcano. Other pinoys came through the group stages unscathed - Marlon Manalo, Lee Van Corteza, Francisco Bustamante, Rodolfo Luat and Roberto Gomez who incidentally had the best record among the 64 players who got through.

The Filipinos representing other nations did not do so well, Ibrahim who played for Malaysia only got 1 win while Montal who bannered the Canadian flag did not win a single match. Both did not get pass the group stages.

Overall it was so far a good campaign for the Filipinos, having 12 players left for the Round of 64, compising 18.75% of the field.

There is a couple of bad draws for the Filipinos though. Ronny Alcano will battle Roberto Gomez in the round of 64. A worse draw would be the battle of two Pinoy giants, Reyes and Orcullo in the next round. And much worst, the winners of both matches will surely be knocking eack other out in th Round of 32.

Manila Welcomes The World
Manila welcomes the 107 foreign players playing in the World Pool Chamnpionship which for the first timne will be held in the Philippine capital.

There are 23 Filipinos entered in this years World Pool Championship. 21 of which represent the Philippines, 1 represents Canada and 1 represents Malaysia. The Philippine Team then composes 16.41% of the 128 man field.


Here's the list of Filipinos entered in the tournament and how they are grouped:

Group 2 Efren Reyes (PHI)
Group 4 Alex Pagulayan (PHI)
Group 5 Marlon Manalo (PHI)
Group 7 Leonardo Andam (PHI)
Group 9 Lee Van Corteza (PHI)
Group 10 Francisco Bustamante (PHI) and Jharome Pena (PHI)
Group 11 Antonio Lining (PHI)
Group 13 Roland Garcia (PHI) and Rudy Morta (PHI)
Group 15 Gandy Valle (PHI)
Group 16 Dennis Orcollo (PHI)
Group 21 Rodolfo Luat (PHI)
Group 22 Roberto Gomez (PHI)
Group 23 Jose Parica (PHI) and Santos Sambajon (PHI)
Group 25 Israel Rota (PHI)
Group 28 Ronato Alcano (PHI)
Group 29 Jeff de Luna (PHI)
Group 30 Eduardo Villanueva (PHI)
Group 32 Ramil Gallego (PHI)

The Filipinos representing other countries are Ibrahim bin Amir of Malaysia and Edwin Montal of Canada.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Django Keeps San Miguel Philippine 9-Ball Open Crown
New Talent Found In Person Of Mike Takayama


Casino Filipino Pagcor Theater, Manila, Philippines - Francisco "Django" Bustamante successfully defended his title in the San Miguel Philippine 9-Ball Open by defeating veteran campaigner Leonardo Didal in the finals to the score of 17-11, October 14th.

The tournament was a great success, owing to the presence of grizzled veterans and the emergence of very young talents. One of the revelations would be Mike Takayama who reached the semi-finals of the event.

Mike defeated big names like: Alex Pagulayan (9-2), Gandy Valle (9-7) and Dennis Orcullo (9-4).

Bustamante takes home PHP500,000 (approximately $10,000) and Didal has PHP250,000 (approximately $5,000) for finishing 2nd.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Philippine Billiards Ranking (Q3 - 2006)
Let us revisit our billiards ranking before the highly anticipated World Pool Championship to be held the very first time in Manila. We have 6 likely heroes in this quarter's ranking. We may expect them to lead the Philippine's ques for the coveted World Pool Championship crown. We have three grizzled veterans and three young guns on our list, and here they are...

1. "The Magician" Efren "Bata" Reyes [2]
The Magician in definitely in a hot streak. He has not only been winning left and right, he is also making history in the process. Efren has been very consistent in his performance in the International Pool Tour (IPT). After landing 4th place in the 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship he upped the ante by winning the 2006 IPT World 8-Ball Championship and taking home the biggest ever prize money in pool history. He also copped the first ever PartyPoker.Com World Cup of Pool with his buddy Francisco Bustamante. And then lastly, he paved the way for the Philippine's sweep of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour by following up his win in Ho Chi Minh City by another win in Jakarta. The sweep was the first ever in the tour history.

1st - 2006 Asian 9-Ball Tour Jakarta Leg
1st - 2006 IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship
1st - World Cup of Pool
4th - 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship
1st - Derby City Classic, One Pocket Event
1st - 2006 Asian 9-Ball Tour Ho Chi Minh City Leg

2. Dennis "Surigao" Orcullo [1]
Though overtaken by Reyes in the list, Orcullo coninues to sizzle. He, like Reyes, is also a picture of consistency in the International Pool Tour (IPT). He placed 3rd and 5th in the IPT North American and World Championship respectively. Also, he continued Reyes' and Bustamante's legacy in winning the World Pool League.

1st - 2006 World Pool League
5th - 2006 IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship

3rd - 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship
1st - World (9-Ball) Championship Bar Table Tournament
1st - US Bar Table Championship, 8-Ball
1st - 43rd Annual Reno Open

3. "Marvelous" Marlon Manalo [New]
It has been a very quiet year for Manalo. But he did almost catch a biggie, he finished second in the 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship, and that is more than enough to put him in third.

2nd - 2006 IPT North American 8-Ball Championship

4. Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan [3]
Alex became the first ever Philippine champion when he took the BSCP National Pool Championship crown undefeated. Although, it should be noted that Efren Reyes and Django Bustamante were not in the competition as they were together busy making history in the World Cup of Pool.

1st - BSCP National Pool Championship
2nd - 2nd SML Open 9-Ball Championship
2nd - 2006 World Pool Masters

5. Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat [New] & Francisco "Django" Bustamante [New]
These two veterans are finally waking up. Luat has been performing well, he topped one of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball tour legs, and the most difficult leg to capture at that, the Kaohsiung Leg. Also, he almost took the 31st Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship crown. Meanwhile, Django has been fairly quit this year. But the historical win for the first ever
PartyPoker.Com World Cup of Pool, together with his friend Efren, cannot be overlooked.

Luat's achievements:
2nd - 2006 US Open 9-Ball Championship
1st - 2006 Asian 9-Ball Tour Kaohsiung Leg

Bustamante's achievements:
1st -
PartyPoker.Com World Cup of Pool