MANILA, Philippines — When the Sharks Billiards Association was launched two years ago, one of the rules introduced was “sharking” or giving the spectators the freedom to shout or heckle the players during the game to force a miss.
Long-time pool patron Perry Mariano doesn’t admire the rule.
“Billiards is a gentleman’s game. It is quiet, respectful and all focus,” said Mariano. “At Lucky Break, we respect the heritage of the game, we are about the sport in its purest form and exactly how world champions were trained to play.”
Intriguingly, Mariano is the father of Hadley Mariano, the chief executive officer of the SBA, which is now on its Season Two.
“I look at Hadley’s league, I don’t approve of this sharking rule,” he said. “You have people screaming and heckling during live play in 9-ball. That’s a deviation from the sport.”
“It turns a professional match into a circus,” he added.
While sharking may be entertaining in some way, Mariano stressed it may devalue the beauty of the game.
“Is there a wide market for SBA? Maybe. I’ll be honest, I actually watch a lot of their games. It’s highly entertaining,” he said. “But as a mainstream professional league for the future? I don’t see it lasting. You can’t build a legacy purely on noise.”