The ongoing World Pool Championship has not lacked for drama, excitement and controversy. Not to mention of course, the pool wizardry that has mesmerized the hordes of billiards aficionados in this land where hanging out in pool halls is a rite of passage for many young lads.
Efren “Bata” Reyes, the acknowledged master not only among Filipinos but for most international players as well, provided the suspense as he flubbed his first assignment to a virtually unknown American (who eventually did not advance to the next stage-his name is Tony Crosby, if you must be reminded). He then went on to win his succeeding matches although he also suffered a bit of a scare as he had to nip veteran Radislaw Babica in his second match. Since then, it has been vintage Bata (an oxymoron?) as he has disposed of the opposition in his uniquely methodical way.
Many were saddened with the early elimination of Alex Pagulayan who, aside from being a formidable cue-wielder himself, is also the darling of the crowd with his comedic antics and witty remarks during a match. Ditto Django Bustamante’s elimination in the round of 68, in a tournament which he nearly won a few years back while his daughter lay in state in the Philippines. Sentimental Filipinos were hoping the home ground advantage would allow the Tarlac native an opportunity for redemption.
On the other hand, many other players again displayed the vaunted Filipino skills at the pool table. Marlon Manalo has been one of the most consistent of the lot, breezing through the elimination and round of 68. Rodolfo “Boy Samson” Luat also seems to have rediscovered his touch, and Lee Van Corteza has also fared well. The new generation players is well represented with Jeffrey de Luna continuing to build a name for himself and lesser lights such as Rudy Morta and Jherome Pena are also serving notice that there is more where Efren and Django came from.
It’s a pity though, that the luck of the draw pits Efren against Filipinos in the knock-out stages. He went up and beat Dennis “Surigao” Orcullo in the round of 68, and as of this writing, was scheduled to face Ronnie “Calamba” Alcano. The winner of that match will go up against Manalo, should he himself advance. So we are faced with Filipinos having to eliminate each other in the knock-out stages.
The controversy was provided yet again by the predictably ill-tempered Earl Strickland. While there is no denying his talent as a pool player, he has managed to create a reputation of being an over-aged brat whose inexplicably disgusting behavior has ruined many a tournament the world over.
In one of the first big-money matches ever in the world of pool back in 1995, he faced Efren in a 0,000 winner-take-all one-on-one match in Hong Kong. I happened to have been the TV commentator for the event, alongside the affable Mark Wilson who served as analyst. Wilson was a friend of Strickland and in the light of the latter’s boorish behavior, tried to explain it away by saying that the American pool player was raised in the rural areas and had a difficult childhood with not much education. I countered that Reyes et al probably had more difficult times amidst unimaginable poverty compared to one who grew up in the first world, but did not behave in such an abominable manner. Wilson had no retort to that.
In his last match the other night, Strickland showed his worst after being reprimanded by WPC officials. He practically threw the match against LiuCheng-Chan of ChineseTaipei, obviously throwing a tantrum for the official admonition. With that performance, he was eliminated and everyone we talked to said he will not be missed.
On the whole however, it has been a pleasant and awesome experience. The championship will go on till Sunday at the PICC.
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Last Tuesday I wrote in this column how despondent boxing manager/promoter Rex “Wakee” Salud was after his boxer Jimrex Jaca upped and left for the States without his knowledge. Salud claims he had booked the fighter for a fight under the Pacquiao-Morales fight promoted by Bob Arum but that Golden Boy Promotions had undercut him and snatched Jaca from him to fight Juan Manuel Marquez in Texas on November 25.
The two were supposed to face each other October 21, but alleged visa problems prevented Jaca from getting to the States in time. Salud claims Golden Boy had given him the impression that the fight was cancelled permanently, thus he booked Jaca instead for the November 18 card, even if the purse was a meager ,500 compared to the ,000 Jaca stands to earn in the Marquez fight. Salud said he had no choice since his understanding was that GBP was no longer interested and he got the Nov. 18 fight as a tune-up.
Salud has filed a complaint with the GAB seeking redress and asking the agency to recall Jaca’s license and stop him from fighting against Marquez or at the least, hold Jaca’s ,000 purse and release it only to him.
As I was writing this column, I received an e-mail that contained copies of a letter that was supposed to have been written by Salud as late as October 30 to the GAB asking for authorization for Jaca’s November 25 fight against Marquez. This belies the Cebuano businessman’s earlier claims.
The plot thickens.
