REYES-BUSTAMANTE DEFEND WORLD CUP OF POOL TITLE IN SEPTEMBER
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 17 Jun 2010
The renowned tandem of pool legends Efren ?Bata? Reyes and Francisco ?Django? Bustamante will defend their PartyPoker.Net ?World Cup of Pool? title before adoring hometown fans in Manila from September 7 to 12 with 32 tandems chasing $250,000 in total prize money.
Luke Riches of Matchroom Sport which holds the franchise for the prestigious event said the it will take place once again in Manila ?following last year?s hugely successful event in the Philippines? in which Reyes and Bustamante pulled off some of their old fashioned magic to score a thrilling 11-9 victory over the fancied German duo of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann.
It was the second time in the four year history of the event that Reyes and Bustamante had lifted the coveted championship trophy having won the World Cup of Pool in its inaugural staging in Cardiff where they routed the American pair of Earl ?The Pearl? Strickland and Rodney ?The Rocket? Morris 11-5 before a wildly cheering crowd that upset the temperamental Strickland.
With the advantage of fielding two teams as host nation, the Philippines has decided to field recent World Pool Masters champion Dennis Orcollo and Roberto ?Pinoy Superman? Gomez, runner up in the 2007 World Pool Championship as the ?B? team. In fact Reyes and Bustamante were paired in the country?s ?B? team last year while Orcollo and 2006 World Pool Champion Ronnie Alcano were chosen as the ?A? team.
Among the other stars of the pool world scheduled to take part are World Champions Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann (Germany), Daryl Peach and Karl Boyes of England, Johnny Archer (USA) and Finland?s Mika Immonen.
Riches informed us that other top draws appearing in Manila are Marcus Chamat (Sweden), Niels Feijen of Holland, Malta?s Tony Drago and a host of big names to be announced soon..
The entire event will be broadcast by Solar Sports live across the Philippines with the live feed of the tournament available internationally. In addition Matchroom Sport will be producing 31 one hour highlights package of the event.
Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn, a genuine fan of the Philippines and Filipino pool players said ?We are delighted to be returning to the Philippines after having enjoyed last year one of the greatest pool tournaments we have ever promoted.
Hearn commended Solar Sports on their coverage saying ?Solar Sports did a fantastic job bringing all the drama and excitement of the tournament to the screen and the large, enthusiastic crowds created an atmosphere unlike any I have ever seen at a pool tournament.
The man who is regarded as a marketing genius added ?The World Cup of Pool is fast becoming the biggest pool tournament in the world and we are delighted to see its continued growth in Asia and around the world.?
Among the nations competing will be Austria, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden plus two qualifiers from Europe plus China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines A, Philippines B, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, Qatar, USA.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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