SMB throws support to world pool championship, RP bets

The Philippines’ hosting of the World Pool Championship, which unfolds tomorrow, gets a big boost as San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced its sponsorship of the prestigious competition featuring the world’s finest players.

SMC’s sponsorship came after it announced the company support to the Filipino entries competing in the $400,000 event at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Billiard icon Efren "Bata" Reyes and former world No. 1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante banner the Philippines’ bid in the sport’s most prestigious event.

Reyes and Bustamante automatically earned berths in the world championship after landing in the top 10 of the nation-hopping San Miguel Asia 9-ball circuit this year.

Reyes won two legs in the SMB Asian 9-Ball Tour to emerge no. 1 in the circuit’s Order of Merit. The 52-year old Reyes won the inaugural Ho Chi Minh City stop of the SMB-sponsored regional tournament and closed the tour with another win in Jakarta last Sept. 17, shortly after bagging the title of the IPT 8-Ball championship in the US.

Bustamante, meanwhile, finished in fifth spot in the SMB tour’s Order of Merit with 110 points. Two other Filipino players, Ramil Gallego and Rodolfo Luat, finished in the tour’s top 10 and are likewise seeded in the World Pool Championship.

Gallego captured the Bangkok leg of the SMB tour while Luat, ruled the Taiwan leg, as the Philippines set a record with a sweep of the circuit.

"Todo ang pasalamat namin sa suporta ng San Miguel sa bilyar. Masaya talagang sama-sama kaming Pinoy kung naglalaro. Kaya sana kami-kami rin ang magkita-kita sa bandang finals," said Reyes, who won the World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales in England in 1999.

"Iniimbita ko po ang lahat na manood at suportahan kami," Bustamante said.

Other Filipino bets entered in the World Pool Championship include Marlon Manalo, Jose "Amang" Parica, Ramil Gallego, Gandy Valle, Jeffrey de Luna, Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcollo, Roland Garcia, Santos Sambajon and Alex Pagulayan.