2nd Billiards Stars Search set Nov. 5-9

FILIPINO billiards enthusiasts gather anew to compete for top honors in the second leg of the Billiards Stars Search which gets underway on Nov. 5 to 9 at the famous Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, Quezon City.

Defending champion Elvis Calasang lead the cast along with reigning national champion Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Mario Tolentino, Victor Arpilleda, Edgar Acaba, Leonardo Didal and reigning RP Junior champion Jerico Banares in Division A.

The four (A, B, C and D) division event is organized by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines in close cooperation with Raya Sports, Philippines Billiards Foundation and Star Billiards Center.

The game is a Ten Ball WPA rules using the winner's break format. Entry fee is P400. Prizes include cash, trophies and in kind. Cash prizes will depend on the number of entries.

Interested parties may register at Star Billiards Center, tel. No. 364-6041, 0917-888-8888, Rizal Memorial Center, tel. No. 0928-744-1740, or Raya Sports, tel. No. 895-2021.

Orcollo Vows To Bounce Back From Failed World Cup Bid

After failing in his mission to bring the World Cup of Pool back to the Philippines and taking much of the blame for it, world no.1 Dennis Orcollo vowed to bounce back and resume his winning ways to reap more honors for the country.

His next target: the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals on October 24 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I’m very disappointed that we weren’t able to fulfill our mission of winning the World Cup, and I blame myself for it,” said Orcollo, who made a couple of unforced errors that doomed his and teammate Francisco “Django” Bustamante’s bid as they succumbed to a 9-6 defeat against the eventual champion American pair of Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris in the semifinals of the event held in Rotterdam, Holland.

“With that, I promise to improve my game even more and I’ll do my best to win more titles for our country,” added the 29-year-old stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano.

Orcollo has so far won four major titles this year – the 2008 Quezon City 9-Ball Championship, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open and the Guinness Tour leg in Guangzhou, China – to more than validate his tag as the world’s best cue artist today.

After the Guinness finale, he will join forces with seven other top Filipinos pool masters in going up against a group of topnotch international players in the Q.C. Invasion: Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown slated on December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall.

There, he and Bustamante will have a chance to exact revenge against their World Cup tormentor, in particular, Morris who is part of the Team World in the event organized by Quezon City Council Majority Leader Ariel Inton and supported by the Quezon City government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports.

Besides Orcollo and Bustamante, the other members of the Team Quezon-City Philippines are former world champions Efren “Bata” Reyes, Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, as well as 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, and former Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medalists Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

Also bannering the international selection are former world champions Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany.

The Q.C. Invasion is also supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), the Quezon City Tourism Council, Puyat Sports, Bugsy Promotions and the Negros Billiards Stable.

Orcollo Vows To Bounce Back From Failed World Cup Bid

After failing in his mission to bring the World Cup of Pool back to the Philippines and taking much of the blame for it, world no.1 Dennis Orcollo vowed to bounce back and resume his winning ways to reap more honors for the country.

His next target: the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals on October 24 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I’m very disappointed that we weren’t able to fulfill our mission of winning the World Cup, and I blame myself for it,” said Orcollo, who made a couple of unforced errors that doomed his and teammate Francisco “Django” Bustamante’s bid as they succumbed to a 9-6 defeat against the eventual champion American pair of Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris in the semifinals of the event held in Rotterdam, Holland.

“With that, I promise to improve my game even more and I’ll do my best to win more titles for our country,” added the 29-year-old stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano.

Orcollo has so far won four major titles this year – the 2008 Quezon City 9-Ball Championship, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open and the Guinness Tour leg in Guangzhou, China – to more than validate his tag as the world’s best cue artist today.

After the Guinness finale, he will join forces with seven other top Filipinos pool masters in going up against a group of topnotch international players in the Q.C. Invasion: Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown slated on December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall.

There, he and Bustamante will have a chance to exact revenge against their World Cup tormentor, in particular, Morris who is part of the Team World in the event organized by Quezon City Council Majority Leader Ariel Inton and supported by the Quezon City government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports.

Besides Orcollo and Bustamante, the other members of the Team Quezon-City Philippines are former world champions Efren “Bata” Reyes, Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, as well as 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, and former Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medalists Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

Also bannering the international selection are former world champions Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany.

The Q.C. Invasion is also supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), the Quezon City Tourism Council, Puyat Sports, Bugsy Promotions and the Negros Billiards Stable.

Bustamante and Abraham Co-Champions at Blaze Stop

One Shot Billiards hosted Blaze 9 Ball Tour Sunday August 31, 2008.  A strong field came out player’s like Francisco Bustamante, Matt Krah, Eddie Abraham, and  Mike Fingers to name a few.

Leading the top half of the bracket was Matt Krah with wins over Ben Sadowski 7-4, Jose Burgos 7-0, and Noel Bensurto 7-2.  Leading  the bottom half of the bracket was Francisco Bustamante with wins over Mike Seas 7-2, Eddie Abraham 7-4  Playing for the hot seat was Mat Krah Vs Francisco Bustamante this was a great match that went to the hill when it was all said and done it was Francisco Bustamante winning the match 7-6 and sending Matt Krah to the one lost side.  Waiting for Matt Krah on the one lost side was Eddie Abraham, this too was a great match that went to the hill but it was Eddie Abraham with the win 7-6.

Playing in the finals was Eddie Abraham Vs Francisco Bustamante  both players are co-champions of the tournament.

Asia 10-Ball Championships in Seoul, Korea

Seoul, Korea- Dragon Promotions is pleased to announce The 5th Annual Asia 10-Ball Championships which will take place November 10-14, 2008 at the Hamilton Hotel, Seoul Korea. The event will be broadcasted on XTM and XPORTS, two of the top channels in South Korea.

Top names in the field so far include Mika Immonen FIN, Rodney Morris USA, Thorsten Hohmann GER, Raj Hundal IND, Lee Chenman HK, and Young Hwa Jeong KOR. The event will pay a guaranteed $10,000 to the winner of the men's division and $3500 to the winner of the women's division.

All players from all countries are welcomed to come join the event and should contact Dragon Promotions at koreaprotour@yahoo.com for information on Stage 2 of the event beginning November 11.  All other players are welcome to join Stage 1 with 4 qualifying rounds on November 10.

Players wishing to visit and compete in Asia in November will find it convenient as there are three back to back events including The All Japan Championships November 19-24 and Puyat Sports Bacolod Open November 27-30 in the Philippines.

Dragon Promotions is one of the leading producers of billiard programming in the world today. Dragon produces over 40 events a year airing on networks in USA, Korea, India, and Europe such as ESPN, MBC ESPN, XTM, XPORTS, and Euro Sport. Events include The World 14.1 Championship, The Predator International 10-Ball Championship, King & Queen of Carom, Empress Cup, Pro Pool Schools, Women's Trickshot Challenge, World Junior 10-Ball Championships, Korea vs USA, and many more.  Dragon also manages some of the world's best players including  Rodney Morris,  Mika Immonen, Shanelle Loraine, Charlie Williams, Jeanette Lee, Mike Davis, Yu Ram Cha, Raj Hundal and many more.

Orcollo Takes Guangzhou Guinness Title

After Taiwan's cueists dominated the Guinness 9-Ball Tour for a year and a half, the balance of power appears to have swung back towards the Philippines. Alex Pagulayan won July's Singapore leg of the Asian professional tour, and Dennis Orcollo snapped off last weekend's stop in Guangzhou, China.

Before Pagulayan's win, Taiwan had captured all six titles of 2007 and the first three of this season. Chang Jung Lin has collected six titles in that time.

But the all-Filipino final between Orcollo and Pagulayan at the Singapore stop has changed the momentum on tour.

At this past weekend's event in Guangzhou, Orcollo breezed into the final. He won his two group matches, then posted 9-1 victories in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

Taiwan's Wang Hung Hsiang, meanwhile, was shaking up the other side of the bracket. He sent Chang home with a 9-4 in in the quarterfinal round, then edged Pagulayan in a hill-hill semifinal.

On the hill in the final, 10-7, Orcollo failed to pocket the 3 on a seemingly easy attempt, allowing Wang to win the rack.

The Filipino ace then committed another foul in the 19th rack and his Taiwanese foe converted on a 1-9 combination to narrow the gap to 10–9.

Wang was tripped up in the next rack, missing the 2 ball, leaving Orcollo to clean the table for his first win on the Guinness Tour.

Check Listings: Fox Sports to Air World Pool Masters

Fox Sports Network will air matches from the 2008 World Pool Masters — won in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion by Alex Pagulayan of the Philippines — every week during the month of September.

FSN is divided into regional networks across the U.S. (such as FSN Midwest and FSN Rocky Mountain), so you need to check your local listings for airdates and times. A lion’s share of the networks are slating the programming for either 11 a.m. or 3 p.m.

The airings come as part of the continuing relationship between FSN for U.K.-based Matchroom Sport, producer of the World Pool Masters as well as such highly regarded fare as the Mosconi Cup and World Pool Championship. Matchroom has been providing FSN with pool programming steadily since 2003.

The World Pool Masters took place in May at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. In the final against Mika Immonen, Pagulayan fell behind, 6-3, before winning five consecutive racks for the title-clinching victory.

Comcast New England and Comcast Philadelphia also will air programming from the World Pool Masters.