Sunday, April 16, 2006

Joey Niespla nips Raymundo Ruben 6-5, captures Easter All-Filipino 9-Ball Tournament

Joey Niespla displays his winning form in the Easter All-Filipino
9- ball tournament at the La Sphère

Joey Niespla known as “batang Bataan” received the champion’s purse and trophy by edging defending champion “kilabot ng Las Vegas”, Raymundo Ruben, 6-5, in the finals of this afternoon’s 2006 Easter All-Filipino 9-ball Tournament at the La Sphère Académie et Centre Sportif.

It was a neck-to-neck race as both cue artists displayed superb techniques in pocketing and precise positioning of the balls. In the end, pressure gave in as Ruben missed the number 8 ball at the corner pocket that gave Niespla an easy open shot and a good position to finally pocket the 9 ball.

In the other pair of the final four, Morris Leonor beat Joseph Sycip 6-3 to take the third place. After being tied at 3-all, Leonor pulled away as Sycip missed several consecutive shots. It was sweet revenge for Leonor as he was beaten by Sycip earlier in the first round.

The Easter All-Filipino 9-Ball Tournament was organized by the Philippine Billiard Club-Geneva, and sponsored by Western Union, Mabuhay Asian Store, Hollywood Video Club, and Consul Enrique Garcia II of the Philippine Mission.


From Left: Raymundo Ruben (2nd place), Joey Niespla (1st place), Morris Leonor (3rd place), and Joseph Sycip (4th place)