MANILA, 8 November — Efren “Bata” Reyes beat Earl “The Pearl” Strickland away, 9-4, to retain the World Pool League 9-ball crown and bag the $15,000 champion’s purse.
Reyes clinched the title before a big crowd that included a 20-strong Filipino contingent that packed the arena and balcony of the NOT Building in Warsaw, Poland.
“It is always great having Filipinos to support me in the audience, but I would like to thank the Polish people who have been wonderful to me,” said Reyes.
Actually, 9-ball is alien to the Poles, but they became instant fans of both Reyes and the sport after the Filipino, known in the pool world as The Magician, dished out a handful from his bag of tricks.
“Despite it being a new sport here, the crowd knew what is a good shot and what is not, and they make a brilliant atmosphere in the arena. I will look forward to coming back next year to defend the title for a third time,” said Reyes.
The final score actually did not show how Reyes had to almost walked the tight rope against Strickland.
The Filipino went up, 3-1, but was threatened by his equally dreaded American rival at 5-4. It was at that point, though, when Reyes rolled to victory and underscored his billing as one of the world’s best.
Rizal, Cebu legs kick off summer cycling tour revival
All roads lead to Pililla in Rizal and Argao in Cebu for three consecutive Sundays this month when the Tour Pilipinas 2003’s first of a three-tiered qualifying process is staged.
“The Tour season is officially on,” stressed Bert Lina, chairman of Airfreight 2100, presenter of the Tour Pilipinas 2003, a revival of the fabled multistage cycling marathon that ran for close to five decades but ended abruptly in 1998.
“Our cyclists, may they be the veterans of the previous Tours and the up-and-coming, would now see the realization of the Tour we promised about and one that they looked forward to,” he added.
The pre-qualifying and qualifying process will be managed by the Professional Cycling Association of the Philippines (PCAP), the same group that ran the previous Tours and the FedEx Calabarzon 2002, the four-stage dry-run conducted by Airfreight 2100-FedEx Philippines last summer.
Olympian Decena dies
London Olympian Eduardo “Eddie” Decena died at the Makati Medical Center due to prostrate cancer. He was 76.
A La Salle standout, Decena earned that monicker when he sank a long shot from the backcourt, forcing an overtime during the 1947 finals against favored Mapua bannered by Eustaquio “Tancing” Tanquintic.
La Salle, skippered by Tito Eduque and coached by Chito Calvo, evetually won the title before a jampacked crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. Decena was voted MVP.
Hall of Famer Carlos Badion and Martin Urra Sr. also died this year.
Among Decena’s London teammates were brothers Fely and Gaby Fajardo, Lauro Mumar, Francisco Vestil, Andres de la Cruz, Antonio Marquez, Ed Fulgencio and Ramoncito Campos Jr.
Iligan captures overall title in Mindanao Games
Iligan City upstaged Davao City at the close of competitions to bag the overall crown in the Second Mindanao Friendship Games at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Complex in Cagayan de Oro.
The final day of the games was immersed in confusion after organizers fed reporters covering the event the wrong results which erroneously awarded Davao City the overall championship title.
Nevertheless, the monumental mistake committed by the event secretariat was rectified, giving Iligan City the victory on the strength of its 34-19-30 gold-silver-bronze medal haul.
Philippine Sports Commissioner for Mindanao William Ramirez proclaimed Iligan City as the overall champion “in the spirit of the Mindanao Friendship Games.”
Aguilar, Saulog top Singson motocross
Glen Aguilar of Caltex-KTM displayed flashes of his old brilliance to rule the pro open category in the Gov. Evaristo “Titong” Singson Memorial Cup invitational motocross championships at the Tamag Hills in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Hardly bothered by the injury that greatly affected his chances in the national championship this year, Aguilar outduelled Ernie Leongson and three other Shell-Yamaha riders in a tight and exciting battle to clinch the title before a mammoth weekend crowd.
Aguilar received 10,000 pesos and trophy put up by Ilocos Sur Gov. DV Savellano, Vigan Mayor Eva Medina and Ronald Singson.
The win was a fitting vindication for Aguilar, who lost to the national championship to Leongson following a spate of injuries this year.
PSC revives National Games
Only the best athletes are expected to filter into the national team in the future as the Philippine Sports Commission revives the National Games aimed at raising the bar of prospective recruits’ performance to Asian level standards.
PSC Chairman Eric Buhain said the National Games will be the melting pot of three major events, including the ongoing Mindanao Friendship Games, where the champions will be culled for the national pool.
“We plan to hold a Luzon Games and a Visayas Games to go along with the Mindanao Games. Then we’ll have champions in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Games competing in the National Games,” Buhain said.
The National Games was held for three years until 1998 during the tenure of PSC chairman Philip Ella Juico.
