Manalo as deadly in straight pool, wins NJ tilt

Marlon Manalo proved he can play as tough in straight pool events as he is in the snooker or 9-ball championships, winning the 2005 New Jersey Straight Pool Open at the Comet Billiard Hall in Parsippany, New Jersey over the weekend.

The 29-year-old Manalo trounced Dan Barouty of the US twice, the first a 150-42 win for the hot seat, and the second a 200-123 victory to win the championship worth $5,000 (roughly P280,000), according to AzBilliards.com.

The win came two weeks after fellow national team mainstay Alex Pagulayan beat another Filipino bet Jose "Amang" Parica to capture the US Open crown, further underscoring the Filipinos’ domination of the sport.

Those wins also augured well for the RP team‘s bid in next month’s SEA Games where Manalo and Pagulayan will be joined in by the two of the best cue masters in the world — Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante along with Gandy Valle, Rodolso Luat, Ronnie Alcano, Lee Van Cortez, Antonio Gabica, Antonio Lining and Warren Kiamco.

"I really didn’t expect to win this tournament. I just want to gain experience and know how the straight pool is being played," said Manalo, the 2000 Asian snooker champion and a semifinalist in this year’s World Pool 9-ball Championships in Taiwan.

Barouty gained a rematch with Manalo in the championship round after beating Parica, 150-123, for the last seat.

In straight pool, the first player to score 150 wins the match although the winning score in the championship is raised to 200 points.

Manalo, fresh from winning the 2005 NYC 9-ball tandem match with Reyes last September, clipped world straight pool champion Allen Hopkins of the US, 150-92, thwarted Jeong Hwa of Korea, 150-107, and beat Bob Maidhof, also of the US, 150-73, on his way to the hot seat.

Manalo also won two major titles in the US circuit early this year, the Reno Open in Nevada worth $12,000 and the Summer Jamboree Billiard Open in Caifornia worth $5,000.