Sunday, August 19, 2007
Another World Cup round for RP
By Mike T. Limpag
Of Sun.Star Cebu
FRESH from the triumph of the Pinoy boxers in the World Cup of Boxing against Mexico in the US, the Philippines will be figuring in another World Cup next month, this time against 31 countries in the World Cup of Pool.
And off to carry the country’s flag in the prestigious event are two of the best who have ever held a cue stick, good friends and legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, owners of the crown last year.
The event’s website reported that the duo will be back to defend their crown for the Sept. 25-30 edition of the event in Holland.
Proven
Just as the World Cup of Boxing hoped to establish the country as a superpower in the boxing scene, the World Cup of Pool will reinforce the notion that the Philippines is the heavyweight in the arena—the yard stick used to measure everyone else’s achievements.
The event will use the scotch doubles format, with the players of each team alternating shots.
Reyes and Bustamante, who whipped the US team of Rodney Morris and Earl Strickland, 13-5, in the finals last year, are again the number one seeds, followed by the US, this time represented by Morris and Corey Deuel.
During last year’s final, Reyes came up with shots that even a grizzled veteran like Bustamante found amazing.
“Efren played lots of unbelievable shots—some of them I’ve never seen in my life—and that’s why we won. When he plays perfect and I play well, we knew we had a great chance and it’s a great feeling to be World Cup of Pool champions,” Bustamante said in the report posted at worldcupofpool.com after their triumph.
One of the shots that Reyes played, one that the website reported “so infuriated Strickland,” was a one-handed shot.
However, no further description of the shot by Reyes, who like most Pinoy pool pros is adept at shooting with the opposite hand or behind the back, was provided.
Seeds
The Taiwanese, who have made the Guinness 9-Ball Tour their virtual playground, are seeded third and will be represented by 2005 World 9-Ball champion Wu Chia Ching and Yang Ching Shung.
Germany is fourth with Oliver Ortmann and Christian Reimering, while Holland, being the host, will have two teams. Its A team, of Niels Feijen and Nick Van den Berg, is seeded fifth, while the B team of Alex Lely and Rico Diks is unseeded.
The rest of the seeded teams are from Vietnam (sixth), England (seventh), China (eighth), Italy (ninth), Finland (10th), Canada (11th), Spain (12th), Austria (13th), Switzerland (15th) and Russia (16th).
The unseeded teams are from Austrlia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Hungary , India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malta, Poland, Qatar, Scotland, Singapore, and South Africa.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 19, 2007 issue)
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