BILLIARD CHAMPS OF THE WORLD

I was browsing through the web and I just thought that it would be nice if I'd know the current rankings of our fellow Filipinos in the World Pool scene. I was expecting that we would be on the top of the list since Efren "The Magician" Reyes and our other pool players are all over the place. But I found out the contrary! According to the World-Pool Billiard Association, clinching at the top of the list is Thorsten Hohmann from Germany, which was followed by fellow Germans like Thomas Engert and Ralf Souquet occupying the second (2nd) and third (3rd) spot respectively. Going down the list, the top Filipino contender was Ronnie Alcano who registered at number 29. Marlon Manalo trailed behind him in number 30 while our more celebrated billiards player lagged behind at numbers 36, 37 and 38. They were Dennis Orcollo (36), Francisco Bustamante (37) and Efren Reyes (38). This came out as a surprise for me! Other Filipinos who ranked are as follows:

• Rodolfo Luat - 41
• Alex Pagulayan - 54
• Gandy Valle - 84
• Jose Parica - 120
• Jeff De Luna - 120
• Elvis Calasang - 170
• Warren Ciamco - 170
• Lee Van Corteza - 170
• Elmer Hoya - 170
• Rudy Morta - 170
• Jharome Peña - 170
• Roberto Gomez - 201
• Ramil Gallego - 201
• Israel Rota - 263
• Leonardo Andam - 263
• Antonio Lining - 263
• Eduardo Villanueva - 418
• Roland Garcia - 418

I thought the list would never end, but fortunately it did.

I just learned that you would have to garner points from the world pool-billiard competitions that you have joined just to make it in the list. The corresponding points that you will garner depends on your performance on the competition. Well, unfortunately for our Filipino comrades they were outwitted by the number of exposures of those players at the top of the list.

But just the same, the pride that I have in my heart still lauds for our Filipino players. The shear number of Filipinos who made it in the list redeems the fact that no Filipino made it in the top 10. In whatever position they may be, Filipino players continues to be a force to reckon with in the world pool-billiard scene. So, what can I say, kudos for a job well-done and keep on making the Filipino people proud of you because I surely am!