Gaga emerges richest, most bemedalled

DOHA — He has long stayed in the shadows of pool icons Bata Reyes and Django Bustamante with no big victory to speak of. But with the Asian Games gold medal win in 9-ball singles, the diminutive Antonio "Gaga" Gabica can now walk tall and proud of his feat with a silver medal in 8-ball to boot.

Playing pressure-free and confident, Gabica scuttled Jeffrey de Luna, 11-7, in the final of the men’s 9-ball singles to hand the Philippines its first gold medal after 11 days in the 15th Asian Games here late Monday.

With a gold medal and silver, Gabica emerged the winningest RP athlete in this Games, not to mention the richest since he stands to receive P2.3 million (P1.5 million for the gold and P800,000 for silver) for his exploits.

Two nights after blowing what seemed to be a sure gold medal romp in the 8-ball final, Gabica played just right this time, taking charge early and then never giving de Luna room for a comeback to pocket the last gold medal staked in cue sports at the Al-Sadd Sports Club.

"I’m happy because we’re friends and there’s no more pressure between us," said the 34-year-old Cotabato ace.

Gabica’s victory thus matched Bustamante and Antonio Lining’s gold medal win in the 9-ball doubles in the Busan Asian Games in 2002.

It also capped the Filipinos’ worldwide supremacy in the sport this year after Reyes and Bustamante bagged the inaugural World Cup of Pool in Wales last July, Reyes later reigned in the World 8-ball Open in Reno, Nevada in September while Ronnie Alcano topped the World 9-ball Championships in Manila last month.

"I played with more confidence because I already won the silver (in 8-ball singles). When I lost the final, I put it out of my mind and just focused on the 9 ball event," said Gabica, referring to his setback to Japanese Satoshi Kawabata of Japan where he blew the chance to lead at 8-5 and eventually lost the match, 7-11, in the 8-ball singles final Saturday.

Truly, Gabica played with great resolve in the 9-ball, thumping Bahraini Raed Humeed, 11-2, in the last 32, dumped Ibrahim Amir of Malaysia, 11-5, in the last 16, held off Chinese Xu Meng, 11-8, behind five golden breaks in the quarters, before bundling out Korean Jeoung Young Hwa, 11-5, in the semis.

Against De Luna, who made it to the final first with an 11-7 victory over Taiwanese ace Yang Ching Shun, Gabica found a rival who is also hungry for recognition and has racked up three convincing victories to gain a crack at the gold.

De Luna ran away with two 11-2 victories over Sayeem Hossain of Bangladesh and Thai Tepwin Arunnath, nipped Yukio Akagariyama of Japan, 11-10, before upending the veteran Yang.

But Gabica still carried out the mission as he pounced on his rival’s sputtering start to take a 4-1 lead, win three of the next five racks, before cruising to the victory.

"It’s okay even if I lost. The silver is fine with me and I’m happy for my friend to win the gold," said De Luna, who at 22 is fast becoming the country’s next pool star after reaching the last 16 in the world 9-ball and finishing with silver on his first Asian Games stint. He took home P800,000.