Billiards medalists not seeded in SEAG

For winning the Asian Games gold and silver medals, respectively, Antonio Gabica and Jeff de Luna should be considered shoo-ins in the Philippine squad competing in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

But in a sport teeming with talents— from pool legend Efren "Bata" Reyes to new world 9-ball king Ronnie Alcano — billiards officials face a difficult task of selecting the members of the national squad seeing action in the Bangkok Games in December.

"It’s a touchy issue," Ernesto Fajardo, chief of the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines, yesterday said.

In fact, the BSCP is expected to hold a series of qualifiers for the SEA Games pitting the country’s best against a new batch of talented cue artists.

That includes De Luna, who rose from obscurity to stardom through the Philippine Open, which staked slots not only in the World Pool Championship last November but also in the Doha Games a month after.

De Luna, 22, barged into the round-of-16 of the World Pool event on his very first try then went on to make it to the RP team in Doha where he snared a silver medal in 9-ball.

Gabica was also a product of the RP Open with the diminutive talented player joining the ranks of Filipino world beaters by winning the 9-ball gold medal and silver in 8-ball in Doha.

"They’re saying we’ve been seeded in the RP team competing in the SEAG in Bangkok because of our performance in Doha, I hope it’s true," said de Luna, one of major awardees in the PSA Awards Thursday at the Mall of Asia, in Filipino.

But the BSCP will not seed any player, saying all must pass through the elimination.

Reyes, who is currently in Singapore, and Francisco "Djangco" Bustamante, who won the inaugural World Cup last year, had earlier told The STAR that they would be more than willing to play for the national team.

"It’s always an honor to play for flag and country," said Reyes in Filipino.

"Who would want to miss an opportunity like that," said Bustamante, a gold medal winner in the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

Alcano is also expected to vie for a spot in Team Philippines, and so do Fil-Canadian Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, the 2004 World Pool champion and one of the four triple gold medalists in the 2005 Manila SEAG.