May 9, 2006 - Philippine Pool Championship Unfolds August
15 - 20.
The Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP)
formally announced today (9 May) that it will organize and stage the first
official Philippine 9-ball Championship tournament at the Ninoy Aquino
Stadium from August 15 to 20 this year.
BSCP chairman Yen Makabenta made the announcement during
the weekly sports forum of the Philippine Sports Association (PSA) at the
Pantalan Restaurant in Luneta. He was joined by two other top officials of
the governing body for billiard sports: BSCP president Ernesto Fajardo and
BSCP secretary-general Julius Nidea.
“This is the first
time that the BSCP is conducting an official tournament to crown a national
champion,” Makabenta said.
“Before this, we have
had only exhibition tournaments organized by private promoters, and they
were not truly representative and comprehensive.”
The August tournament, which will take place over six
days, will bring together sixty-four (64) top pool players from all regions of the
country, including Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco
“Django” Bustamante and
Dennis Orcullo. The entire field will go through the double-elimination
format of the tournament
BSCP president Ernesto Fajardo explained that the
tournament will have many things at stake.
First, the tournament will send its two top players into
the 2006 World Pool Championship which will be held at the Philippine
International Convention Center in November.
Second, the tournament will be a key criterion in the
selection of the country's players for the Asian Games in Doha in December.
And third, the tournament will formally proclaim a
Filipino national champion in nine-ball pool.
The BSCP officials also disclosed that a total prize fund
of over P2 million and prestigious trophies will be awarded to top places in
the tournament.
Cash prizes will be awarded as follows:
First place
P1,000,000
Second place
500,000
Third place
150,000
Fourth place
150,000
Cash awards will be given up to the 16th place in the
tournament.
In organizing the tournament, the BSCP will implement the
following system for the accreditation of players:
The top 12 players of the country, ranked
according to their performance in international and national tournaments,
will receive invitations to the tournament and will be given appropriate seedings.
Thirty (30) slots will be filled by players who are
ranked as Group 1, 2 and 3 players (pangprimera, pangsegunda and panercera)
in the country.
Ten (10) slots will allocated to provincial and
regional champions.
The final twelve (12) slots will be contested in a
qualifier to be staged two weeks before the tournament.
An entry fee of Php 3,000 will be charged to participating
players.
BSCP secretary-general Julius Nidea has been designated as
tournament director of the 2006 Philippine National Pool Championship.
