Friday, April 18, 2008 Alcano starts World 8-ball title defense
REIGNING World 8-Ball Champion Ronnie Alcano will try to defend his only crown left when the World 8-Ball championships starts today at the Amir Billiards Club in Fujairah City.
Aside from Alcano, eight other Filipinos will be in the 64-man field.
Alcano became just the second person to win the World 8-Ball and World 9-ball at the same time after Taiwanese Wu Chia-ching in 2005.
Mariano said that Filipinos have a big chance of winning the title but said that everyone would go through a tough match as the competition is fielded with top cue artists in the world.
Money game
Mariano said Alcano, who won his 9-Ball title the first time Manila hosted the World Pool Championship in 2006, has a 60 percent chance of retaining his title.
"He is a good 8-ball player, he already won several money game tournaments for the past few months before coming to this tournament and the same is true with (Dennis) Orcollo and (Joven) Bustamante, who are both aiming to become a world champion this year," he said.
Other Filipinos in the event are qualifying winners Roberto Gomez, Jeff de Luna, Joven Bustamante, and the Qatar-based Israel Rota, who was the eighth Filipino to win in the qualifying tournament.
The other world-renown players are Darryl Peach, Wu, reigning world 10-ball champion Shane Van Boening of the United States, and former world pool champions Oliver Ortmann and Ralf Soquet of Germany.
The tournament also has a lone female cue artist in Jasmin Ouschan of Austria and will also have Brunei's Crown Prince Muhtadee Billah. (NSM)
