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The Philippines will be sending a formidable team, which includes the current World No. 1 and three former world champions, that will be expected to deliver a haul of gold medals in the billiards events in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in Singapore beginning June 5.
Two-time world champion and Hall of Famer Efren “Bata” Reyes, the living legend of Philippine billiards, will spearhead the country’s campaign in the biennial meet.
The 60-year-old Reyes, a former World 9-Ball and World 8-Ball titlist, will be the country’s oldest bet but will be bringing in wisdom and leadership to the team selected by the Philippine Olympic Committee.
He will leading a contingent that includes the top-ranked player in the world Carlo Biado, former World 8-Ball champion Dennis Orcullo and two-time women’s world champion Rubilen Amit.
Veteran campaigner Warren Kiamco and up-and-comers Alvin Barbero, Francisco Dela Cruz, Reynaldo Grandea, John Drahcir Mauricio, Michael Angelo Mengorio and Jeffrey Roda.
Chezka Centeno, a budding teenage sensation, is the only other female participant for the billiards contingent. She qualified for the women’s World 10-Ball championship at age 13.
Biado is currently No. 1 in the World Pool-Billiard Association ranking, although he has yet to win a world championship. Last February, he finished runner-up to two-time World Junior champion Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei.
Orcullo, one of the three Filipino players included in the world top 10 ranking of the WPA, had previously won gold medals in 2011 in Indonesia (8-Ball singles) and 2013 in Myanmar (10-Ball singles).
Amit, who won the inaugural staging of the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship in 2009 and repeated as champion four years later, is looking to add this year’s event to her growing list of gold medals.
She had already won a total of five gold medals, beginning in the 2005 SEA Games.
Source: Rey Joble of Interaksyon.com
