Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Valle dreams of winning individual Asiad gold
By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
GANDY Valle of Davao City dreams to become the first Filipino cue artist to win a singles gold medal in the Asian Games.
But his chance of realizing that dream may have to wait for another four years.
"I really wanted to play in the Games. I even offered my services to the national team and told the BSCP (Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines) president about it. I was told that the team is already complete with Efren Reyes and Django Bustamante leading the cast, and so I thought I could not do anything about it anymore," Valle said.
Valle said he later found out from his sponsor that he will compete in an IPT event in Las Vegas that is set also in December, about the same schedule of the Asiad in Doha, Qatar.
"My mind is all set for the IPT tournament. But BSCP asked me recently to join the national team in the Asian Games after learning of my good performances abroad. I told them I will be playing in Las Vegas instead. Their invitation came late, unfortunately. I have already said yes to my sponsor," Valle said during an interview with Sun.Star Davao over the weekend.
He said it is every player's dream to hold a title that nobody else has, adding: "That's why I wanted to be the first Filipino to win a billiards individual gold in the Asian Games. I've won a doubles gold in Bangkok in 1998 that I shared with Romeo Villanueva. It was the country's only gold medal at that time and the first for the entire billiards team."
In 2002 Busan Asian Games, Bustamante and Antonio Lining also won a doubles gold.
"We still don't have a gold in an individual event that's why I really want to make that record)," he said.
With the 2006 Asiad now out of his mind, Valle said he has the Manila World Pool Championship next month and the Las Vegas IPT event in December to think about.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 25, 2006 issue)
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