Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Malaysian tames Pinoy cue artist in Singapore leg of Guinness 9-ball tilt
FOR the fourth time this year, luck refused to shine on the Philippines' campaign for their first Guinness 9-Ball Tour title as the nation's last hope, 2004 IPT World Pool Champion Alex Pagulayan, was upset by Malaysia's Ibrahim Amir in a heartbreaking 11-13 loss to bow out of Asia's premier pool competition here at the Orchid Country Club in Singapore.
Drawing first blood with an 8-9 combo, Pagulayan was all business as he found the touch early to race to a 4-1 advantage. But uncharacteristic errors from the Filipino in the 6th and 7th racks saw Amir able to bounce back with an impressive streak of own and knot the score, four racks a-piece.
Flustered by his opponent's offensive onslaught, the normally consistent Pagulayan was a bundle of nerves as he lost his concentration which resulted in a bungled corner-pocket attempt at the 8th and a scratch off the break in the 10th to allow Ibrahim easy run-outs of the table and own a commanding 7-4 edge.
Even so, "The Lion" refused to give up as the former world title-holder displayed his championship form to climb back with five unanswered racks to reclaim the lead, 9 - 7. But a break and run-out in the 17th rack and a thick miss on the black eight from Pagulayan bolstered the confidence of the Malaysian as he surged once more to bring the match to a third deadlock at 9-9.
The two pool artists then showcased some of their best pool in the 3-day tournament as they traded racks to have the board show a riveting 10-all which meant they had to utilize the two-rack advantage needed to win if play went hill-hill in the semis and finals as dictated by the competition ruling.
Unfortunately, the extended period did not benefit the struggling Pagulayan as the Filipino ran out of tricks to bail him out off the exceptional positional safety shots of Ibrahim, who shifted to the defensive in a bid to rattle the already demoralized Pagulayan. In the end, the ace Filipino committed too many unforced errors as he conceded to the skilled Malaysian, 11 -13 who is entering the final round for the very first time in the Tour.
A visibly disappointed Pagulayan remarked: "It was a hard loss for me to take because I really wanted to make my country proud and produce our first win this year. But Ibrahim was performing well and giving me a hard-time with the safeties. At the same time, I was not really producing my best form which essentially is inexcusable in a tournament of this caliber. But still I did my best, It was only that Ibrahim was better. I am hoping I can make up for the loss in Shanghai next month."
The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is Asia's premier pool competition which carries the name of its new sponsor Guinness and boasts of a prize money of US$320,000. Organized by Asia's Number One Sports Broadcaster, ESPN STAR Sports, and sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the Tour has featured some of the world's best pool players and is the only ranking tournament that offers automatic qualification to the WPA World Pool Championship for its top 10 finishers.
Beginning life in 2003 as the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the inaugural Tour featured two stops - in Singapore and the Philippines - after three scheduled legs were cancelled because of the SARS outbreak. The Tour visited five cities in 2004 and had four stops each in 2005 and 2006. 'The Magician' Efren Reyes has won seven of the 15 tournaments held up till end-2006, with Filipino cue masters dominating the roll of honor with 12 wins. Yang Ching-Shun of Chinese Taipei has the other three wins.
The Guinness 9-Ball Tour 2007 will be the biggest and richest to-date with five legs and new grand final in Bali. Each leg will feature 24 players with the overall top 10 players making the grand final. At stake each leg is US$50,000 and Word Pool Championship ranking points. Winners for each leg walk away with US$15,000 prize money. The grand finals boast of a US$70,000 purse with the Champion pocketing US$36,000. (Press release)
