8 May: Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) Academy, RMSC, Malate, Manila – After five frustrating frames James Al Ortega conceded to his teammate Benjamin Guevarra, Jr. with a 4-1 loss in the 6-Red snooker finals. Guevarra, a silver medalist in the 2007 SEA Games won the first 3 frames with a 42 pt. average versus the 17.6 pts of Ortega, a SEA Games bronze medalist. Even though Ortega rallied in the 4th frame he lost on the 5th deciding frame giving Guevarra the 1st place.
In the 3rd & 4th place playoff, SEA Games gold medalist Joven Alba won 4 frames of 5 over Luis Saberdo averaging 32.4 pts per frame compared to Saberdo’s 12 pts. Alba’s accuracy proved well earning him the 3rd place in the 6-Red snooker event.
Two young cueists 25 yr old Alvin Barbero and 19 yr old Michaelangelo Mengorio entered in their first ever snooker tourney. Barbero beat Guevarra 4-3 early on in the group matches.
After almost 5 hours of ball spins and placing, Reynaldo Grandea won the carom 1-cushion event by a mere 7 point lead over Luis Saberdo. Both players gave their best shots on even footing from the start up to the 60th inning with 149-142 pts as their final score. BSCP Technical Director Ricardo “Mon” Ancaja expressed his admiration for both of the players motivation to win the carom event.
Grandea is a 2003 SEA Games medalist in the Balkline and 3-cushion carom events as well as in English-billiards. Saberdo is also a 1995/93 SEA Games medalist in both snooker and English- billiards.
In the 3rd & 4th place playoff, SEA Games gold medalist Joven Alba won 4 frames of 5 over Luis Saberdo averaging 32.4 pts per frame compared to Saberdo’s 12 pts. Alba’s accuracy proved well earning him the 3rd place in the 6-Red snooker event.
Two young cueists 25 yr old Alvin Barbero and 19 yr old Michaelangelo Mengorio entered in their first ever snooker tourney. Barbero beat Guevarra 4-3 early on in the group matches.
After almost 5 hours of ball spins and placing, Reynaldo Grandea won the carom 1-cushion event by a mere 7 point lead over Luis Saberdo. Both players gave their best shots on even footing from the start up to the 60th inning with 149-142 pts as their final score. BSCP Technical Director Ricardo “Mon” Ancaja expressed his admiration for both of the players motivation to win the carom event.Grandea is a 2003 SEA Games medalist in the Balkline and 3-cushion carom events as well as in English-billiards. Saberdo is also a 1995/93 SEA Games medalist in both snooker and English- billiards.
Winning carom’s 3rd and 4th place were Emilio Villariza and Ernesto Reyes respectively. Villariza is a 2005 SEA Games bronze medalist in the cadre 47/1 carom event.
This 7-day event was the 1st of 3 series, the latter being the championship. A total of twenty five entries played snooker and fifteen in carom. In-line with its mission to promote & develop billiard disciplines in the country, the Snooker and Carom Challenge will now be an annual BSCP tournament .
The 2009 Snooker & Carom Challenge 1 partners were the Philippine Sports Commission and Pocari Sweat.
