East and West battle in Kings Cup
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 18 Nov 2015
Eight of the brightest and finest pool sharks in the world battle starting today when the First Kings Cup of Pool unwraps at the posh Resorts World Hotel.
Asia's best Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante of the Philippines and Chinese Taipei's Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung clash with their American and European Counterparts Mika Immonen of Finland, Shane Van Boening of the U.S., Darren Appleton of the United Kingdom, and Albin Ouschan of Austria for three days spread until Saturday.
Dubbed as the West versus the East, the three-day epic, organized by Dragons promotions, is aimed at deciding which continent possesses the greatest billiards players in the whole universe.
Immonen, team captain of the West Team, for instance, is a two-time world titlist, Boening owns four plums, Appleton has three and Ouschan a one-time no. 1.
Bata, "The Magician," skipper of the East side, is a 9-ball and 10-ball world champ besides having been Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, and so is his kumpadre Django. Ko Pin Yi is four-time world kingpin, while Ko Ping Chung, a world Junior titleholder and currently ranked in the top 10.
This inaugural edition of the Snyder Cup marks the first time Europe and USA join forces in representing the West in an international competition of this magnitude, where the Philippines and Taiwan will also be playing as a team in the history of cue sport.
Today's action starts at 6 p.m. with the centerpiece four-on-four team competitions. Also scheduled are the preliminary rounds in singles, doubles, trios and singles plays.
The first team to win 10 matches goes home with the giant championship trophy. The 10-ball matches will be in a race-to-five system of play.
Dragons promotions is proud to announce that hostilities will be played on the beautifully designed Rasson Table using Andy Cloth, Viking Cue, Cyclop Balls while the players will wear prestigious clothing made by FA Clothing Company. Puyat Sports, Pool & Billiard Magazine, and Billiards Digest are also co-sponsors.
"This is the most concentrated group of great players I have ever seen. For sure there is going to be some amazing pool during those three days", Immonene said
The competition is much bigger over there against the Asians...There's going to be a lot of fans watching and big TV coverage. That's why I really enjoy playing in the Philippines. It's going to be a war," Boening added.
For Reyes, the tournament is what cue spot is needed to regain the glory the sport once enjoyed in the country.
"Billiards popularity here is at the downtrend, competitions like this is what we need for our countrymen to regain interest in the sport," he said
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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