QC stars battle world's best

Eight of the best Filipino cue artists, led by Efren “Bata” Reyes, team up to defend the home front against foreign invasion in the much-awaited Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand VILLARDS Showdown set Tuesday to Thursday at the Trinoma Mall.

Former world champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano along with current world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Roberto Gomez, Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco join Reyes in the home team pitted against a selection of stars from the rest of the globe in the epic event presented by Sen. Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports, and the Quezon City government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte.

Making up the Team World are former world champions Mika Immonen of Finland, Thorsten Hohmann of Germany and Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei, as well as Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams of the United States, Yang Ching-shun of Chinese-Taipei, Raj Hundal of England and Fu Jianbo of China.

“We are very proud and honored to host this exciting showdown between the best Filipino billiards players and their topnotch foreign counterparts,” said Quezon City Council Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton, the chief proponent of the event, during the press conference yesterday at the Quezon City Hall.

“This big event, which we plan to hold yearly, aims not only to showcase the skills and talents of our own players against the world’s best but also to promote Quezon City as one of the country’s leading sports-tourism destinations,” added Inton, who was joined by Villar, Belmonte and Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) president Vic Rodriguez in introducing the participants to the media.

A cash prize of $40,000 (P2 million) awaits the winning team in the event sponsored by Camella Communities and supported by the BMPAP and the Quezon City Tourism Council with Solar Sports, RPN-9, The Philippine Star and BusinessMirror as media partners.

“I’m supporting the whole event, but in particular, I’m with our own team. We’ve been all over the country and I’ve seen how popular our players are. I want them to win for them to make our kababayans proud and happy,” said Villar.

The two squads will square off in singles, doubles and team events similar to that of the famed Mosconi Cup.

“European players have been winning the biggest tournaments in the world as of late. I won’t be surprised if we win this too,” said Hohmann.

“I’ve been here so many times that Philippines is like a home to me. The people in the streets know me so I don’t think ‘home court’ would matter here. As Michael Buffer says: ‘Let’s get ready to rumble,’” said Immonen.

“Let’s get it on,” said Kiamco, Gomez, Corteza and Orcollo.

Reyes, Pagulayan, Alcano and Bustamante missed the media launch as they were still competing in a tournament in Japan.