Monday, November 13, 2006 Mika, Chamat picked fellow European to win
HOURS before Ronato “Ronnie” Alcano lifted the trophy of the World Pool Championships (WPC) in Manila, Ralf Souquet was the favorite to win, at least for two of his fellow European cue artists.
Finland’s Mika "The Iceman" Immonen and Sweden’s Marcus "Napoloen" Chamat, who themselves were playing tough matches in the 2006 Sun.Star Superbalita International 9-Ball Challenge, had forecasted that Souquet would win the WPC title.
The two, who later got booted out in the round of eight yesterday in Cebu, said Souquet had more experience than the Filipino contender.
"Ralf's going to beat him," said Chamat, adding that Souquet is eager to win the finals, his third trip since winning the prestigious title in 1996. "But Ronnie is playing nice."
For Immonen: "Souquet has a lot of experience. Alcano has a lot of talent but he has to be very careful."
Alcano proved them wrong, and in superb fashion, coming out strong and pulling a comfortable lead all the way to victory.
The two foreign billiard icons, though, had forecasted right during Saturday's press conference that it's going to be Alcano and Souquet in the finals.
Chamat, though, gave a prediction that Filipinos will agree with.
This time, it's not going to be billiards but on Sunday's Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales III fight, dubbed as the Grand Finale.
"Manny will win that fight," said Chamat, who was Pacquiao's occasional billiards “sparring” mate.
"But unfortunately, I'm leaving the country (Philippines) but I'll try to watch it on TV back at home." (JAF)
