RP cue bets not new to pressure

The pressure of winning under the most trying condition or the pressure of living up to the highest expectation is practically the same kind of pressure these men are made for, have trained for, and live for.

Therefore, how to handle the pressure wouldn’t be a problem at all for the RP billiards and snooker team, dubbed as the "Lucky Nine," when it vies for the gold in the 14th Asian Games scheduled Sept. 29 to Oct. 14 in Busan, South Korea.

"It’s going to be the breaks... not the pressure. Sanay na sanay sa pressure ang mga ’yan. That’s why we’re very confident that they’ll bring in the medals," said Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) president Ernie Fajardo yesterday.

The game of pool was first played in the Asian Games in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, and the national team promptly delivered. In fact, it was the 9-ball doubles tandem of Romeo Villanueva and Gandy Valle that delivered the country’s lone gold in that Asiad.

This time, the members of the team led by living legends Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante have once again vowed to deliver as the Philippines, competing in 30 of the 38 sports, tries to do better, in fact much better, than in 1998.

"Hasang-hasa ang mga yan. And tuloy-tuloy ang practice nila since the Southeast Asian Games last year. They’ve joined other international competitions and we truly feel that they all have the needed requirements and the ability to win," Fajardo added.

Aside from Reyes, the 1999 world 9-ball champion, and Bustamante, who came so close to the same title last July in Cardiff, Wales, the others on the Busan-bound team are Antonio Lining, Lee Van Corteza, Warren Kiamco, Reynaldo Grandia, Marion Manalo, James Al Ortega and Bayani Guevarra.

The Philippines, expected to encounter stiff opposition from Chinese-Taipei and Japan, is pinning

its hopes in 9-ball singles (Kiamco and Lining), 9-ball doubles (Lining and Bustamante) and 8-ball singles (Corteza and Reyes). But BSCP officials are not discounting any surprises in the English, snooker and carom where Reyes is also entered. There’ll be no doubles competition in 8-ball.

The team leaves Friday for the Korean port city for a couple of days of practice in time for the competitions scheduled Oct. 1-8. The 8-ball event will be played Oct. 2-3, 9-ball singles on the 4th and 5th, and 9-ball doubles on the 6th and 7th.

"Our chances are very good and their morale is very high. But this is really a game of chance. Like what happened to Bustamante in Cardiff. He had a couple of bad breaks in the end... without which he could have easily won," said Fajardo.