WHEN the curtain opens on the inaugural World Ten Ball Championship on September 29 in Manila, we will bring full circle our long quest for Ten Ball to be part of the world pool calendar and for the Philippines to serve as host and home for its world championship.

As early as 2005, even before we won the right to host the world nine ball championship in 2006, I was already dreaming of taking ten ball to the global stage. What would it take to get the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) to adopt ten ball for international competition and authorize an official world championship? How do we persuade the players and the continents to shift plates and take on the new game? If Fujairah in the Emirates can host the world eight ball championship, why not the Philippines for ten ball? Would sponsors be interested at all considering that the sport was only starting to attract fan attention and television?

The challenges were many and the story of how we got from there to here is fairly long. But there’s one anecdote that crystallizes our journey. Sometime in November 5 or 6, 2006 (I forget the exact date), I had breakfast with Jerry Forsyth at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. The meeting was nothing formal; I just wanted to know more about the hotshot pool announcer-commentator who was doing the 2006 WPC. In the middle of our chat, I brought up ten ball.

“What do you think of ten ball?” I asked Jerry. That question started a chain reaction that all told has led to the WTBC being placed in the world pool calendar and the event being set here in Manila.

We Filipinos have much to thank Jerry for. He encouraged us in our dream of promoting a world ten ball championship. He hooked me up by email with Ian Anderson, who did not come to Manila for the 2006 WPC. And along the way he helped me in shaping the entire concept and program for an official world ten ball championship.

From Ian and the WPA, we got nothing but encouragement and assistance. But there were hurdles to clear. Ian and Thomas Overbeck, WPA vice president and sports director, believed that ten ball had to have its own rules and own aura. It shouldn’t just be nine ball with an added ball. And more worrisome, ten ball was not yet widely played throughout the world.

As late as just a year ago, the odds looked very long. But as my years in journalism and politics have taught me, nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.

And now the rest is about to become history.

The New and the Old

The championship that will unfold in Manila this September-October will have a little bit of both the new and the old.

Among the key changes are:

1. The WPA Ten Ball Rules – The rules underwent a thorough process of study and vetting, influenced in part by our actual experience in conducting ten ball events. What has emerged is a rigorous set of rules that gives ten ball its due, and will appeal to both players and fans. The game is more complex and challenging. And it reduces luck to a minimum.

2. Open to Male and Female Players, Juniors and Seniors, Pros and Amateurs – The WTBC is open to all players regardless of gender, age or status. The world men’s champions in three disciplines – eight ball, nine ball and straight pool – are in the competition. And so are the women’s world champion and the male world juniors champion. In the era of open sports, the Olympic system does not distinguish between professionals and amateurs. In the Philippines, this is important to remember because some bureaucrats are obsessed with the idea of licensing players.

3. Official Match for Third Place – The other world championships and most tournaments don’t break the tie between third and fourth places. In the WTBC, we will have a match for third place. This is partly for medal purposes. But another reason is the requirement for drug-testing in international sports. In the fortuitous circumstance that winners and runners up fail their tests, the next in line will ascend to the world title.

4. Freedom in the Break – In the WTBC, players can choose whether to employ the power break or the soft break, or anything in between. What has marred the appeal of nine ball to players and fans is the soft break, which in the last two WPCs in Manila was really awful.

On the other hand, we have retained the following from the nine ball and eight ball world championships.

1. WTBC in Two Stages – The full tournament is divided into two stages. Stage One is the Qualifying Tournaments for players who are not yet qualified for the main draw of the championship. Ten qualifiers will take place at the Star Billiards Center in the suburban city of Quezon on September 23 to 27. Stage Two is the main tournament of 128 players, which will take place at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

2. From Group Play to Knockout System – We are adopting the system created and applied successfully by Matchroom Sport in the 2007 WPC. The field of 128 players are divided into 16 groups of eight players each, who then go into a double-elimination competition to determine who will enter the Last 64. From Last 64 onwards, the tournament becomes a knockout affair – one loss, you’re out.

Coverage Features

TO enable pool fans to follow the WTBC even if they cannot come to Manila, we are providing the widest possible TV and Internet coverage of the tournament.

On television, the championship will be available on the following channels:

1. ESPN Star Sports – All six channels in Asia will be covering the matches live.

2. The Filipino Channel – This international channel is available in almost all regions of the world. It will offer live the same broadcast as ESPN.

3. ABS Studio 23 – In the Philippines, the WTBC will be broadcast on free TV and cable TV.

On the Internet, we go even one better. Besides featuring the TV matches, we are offering on pay-per-view all matches via live video streaming. All ten tournament tables will be on camera. The only difference is that non-TV table matches will not have commentary.

The broadcast team will be composed of Jerry Forsyth, Ted Lerner, Bob Guerrero and Emille Soriano, backstopped by a number of TV reporters.

Returning Your Trust

BECAUSE we are doing the WTBC for the first time, we literally had to invent it from scratch. Promoting a new game is a daunting challenge, especially if you are seeking to hold a world championship no less. Skepticism is high. Sponsorship is tough to come by. And most challenging of all is getting players to travel thousands of miles to compete.

We at Raya have been lucky in securing the support of the international pool community – the WPA, the continental federations and national associations, and the players. With only our word and track record to go by, most have kept faith with us. And we have a full field for the inaugural championship and an international cast of officials and commentators to help us mount it.

What we will say in response is that we fully intend to earn and repay this trust in the holding of the first WTBC and all future championships. We are sparing nothing to make this a truly competitive and exciting tournament. We fully guarantee the prize fund on offer, plus some. And with the assistance of our government and private sector, we will do our utmost to make everyone’s stay in our country pleasant and memorable.

And this is just the beginning. For years and years to come, the WTBC in the Philippines will be an integral part of our national calendar. And so far as we are able, we will strive to make it always the biggest pool tournament in the world in terms of prizes and participation.

So thank you everyone. And welcome to the WTBC.