Bounty Incentive Offered for the Taiwanese in WPC

QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES--- Hui-chan Lu of Taiwan earned himself a slot in the knockout round and at least $2,000 in prize money with a 9-2 win over Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica. Make it $2,500.

A Taiwan billiards player told the local media yesterday that their government is giving away $500 for every victory against a Filipino player.

Taiwan team captain Wen-Liu Hsiao added that the Chinese-Taipei government will give an additional incentive of $30,000 to any Taiwanese player who emerges as champion in addition to the the top prize of $100,000. If a Taiwanese player makes it to second or third place, a $20,000 or $10,000 bonus will be awarded to the player.

In order to concentrate for their matches, the Taiwanese players are billeted away from the rest of the WPC participants. They are staying in a hotel in Malate, Manila instead of the Quezon City area. The Taiwan government also decided to subsidize the $100 entry fee of very Taiwanese who played in the qualification tournament at the Star Paper Complex. They sent 44 players in the qualification tournaments where four of the 10 available slots were secured by Taiwanese, raising to 13 the number of players from Taiwan in the main draw of the World Pool Championships.

The Philippines has the most number of entries with 15 followed by the United States has 11 entries.