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.
