Summer Heats Up as Asian Pool Masters Prepare to Clash Anew at the7th Asian 9 Ball Tournament

The heat is up as the Asian cue masters meet anew on the 5th of July for the much-awaited 7th All Asian 9 Ball Tournament to be held at the Centre Carougeois de Billard. After failing to win last month’s Philippine Independence Day 8 Ball Asian Invitational Tournament, the Filipinos are raring to turn the tables on their fiercest Asian opponents.
Led by Jimmy Menguita, Val Arceo, and Ruben Zaballa, Team Philippines boasts of the deepest bench in the Asian Tour. In addition, pool Veterans Bos Reyes, Frankie Federigan, Raymundo Ruben, and Morris Leonor make this team a formidable wall to breakthrough.
Among the fiercest of their opponents are the Thais led by Ken Nanakorn and last month’s Philippine Independence Day Champion, Mie “James” Udon. The “dynamic duo” of Thai pool are expected to create havoc on the green felt to insure their domination of the game.
The Vietnamese on the other hand, has a strong presence in the Asian Tour. Led by Tony Truong, the master cue player from Hanoi has consistently shown that he can run out the tables with his precision shots and ball positioning. Backed up by rookie Stephen Linh, they are a formidable force to reckon with in the Asian tour.
Not to be discounted is China’s Liang Zi Yue and Japan’s Yoshi Hasegawa, both players have proven their competitiveness during the last Asian Tours either landing in the semi-finals or the finals.
And like they say, the 9 ball is round—anything can just happen.

Thailand's Mie "James" Udon bags Ambassador's Cup

Thailand’s Mie “James” Udon clobbered Philippines’ Bos Reyes 5-1 to capture the 2009 Ambassador’s Cup - Philippine Independence Day Asian Invitational 8 Ball Tournament held today at the Centre Carougeois de Billard.

It was a shaky start for Udon who was trailing as Reyes took the 1st rack to lead 1-0. However, Udon started to get serious and pulled out all his guns to take the rest of the next 5 racks to finalized his victory. This is the second consecutive year that the Thais have taken the much-coveted Ambassador’s Cup. Last year, another Thai player, Manat Dornkan took home the cup.

In the battle for 3rd place, Vietnam’s Steven Linh crushed Philippines’ Ruben Zaballa 5-2. The Vietnamese rookie cue player took the offensive and wrapped up the first 2 racks. Zaballa tried to rally from behind but the effort seemed to be futile as Linh was unstoppable in pocketing shots and positioning the white ball perfectly for the next shots.

The Philippine Billiard Club-Geneva would like to thank H.E. Ambassador Erlinda Basilio, Consul General Junever Mahilum-West, and the Mabuhay Asian Store for their prize donations.
Maraming Salamat po !!!

See photos at:

http://pbcgeneva.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album25