FORMER world champion Alex Pagulayan and fast-rising Joven
Bustamante take on the mission to lead the Filipinos in stopping the Taiwanese
domination in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour as the 2008 edition of the six-city Asian
series unfurls today at the Taipei Gymnasium in Taiwan’s capital.
Pagulayan and Bustamante are joined by Marlon Manalo, Antonio
Gabica and Jeff de Luna in carrying the country’s tricolors in the tough
three-day competition marking the start of the $320,000 (P12.8-million) event,
also serving as a qualifier for the World Pool Championship.
"It has always been an honor to represent the Philippines in
international competition, so we’ll do our best to make our country proud," said
Pagulayan, who was chosen by the tour’s title-sponsor as the ambassador for this
year’s series.
Pagulayan was banned by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of
the Philippines (BSCP) for allegedly "sharking" an opponent during the tour’s
Singapore leg last year.
"I feel very much vindicated by being chosen as the Guinness
ambassador," said the 2004 World Pool champion. "This goes to show that I’ve
really done nothing wrong."
Like Pagulayan, Bustamante was also handpicked by the
organizers for his string of impressive performances last year, including a
quarterfinals finish in the World Pool Championship and a semifinals appearance
in the World 8-Ball tilt.
"Last year was really a great year for me, so I just hope
that I could sustain my good performance throughout this year," said Bustamante,
who has grown to become one of the country’s top cue artists.
Bustamante is currently ranked sixth in the world by the
World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), just behind two other Filipinos in Dennis
Orcollo (No.1) and former double world champion Ronnie Alcano (No.3).
A total of 24 players are entered in the kickoff stage of the
tour, including six from regional archrival Chinese-Taipei.
The Taiwanese swept all the tour stops last year, and will be
back with an even more formidable line-up, led by defending overall champion
Chang Jung-Lin, former world titlist Wu Chia-ching, teenage sensation Ko Pin-yi,
Yang Ching-shun, Wang Hung-Hsiang and Chang Pei-wei.
Sanctioned by the Asian Professional Billards Union (APBU),
the event will also have players from Malaysia , Indonesia , Singapore , Vietnam
, Korea , Japan , Thailand , India and China .
Winners of each leg will take home US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion
will walk away with US$36,000.
