Senate President Manny Villar renewed his commitment of an all-out support to Philippine billiards as he announced the staging of more tournaments, including the next leg of the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup on November 27 to 30 in Bacolod City.
It will be the fifth leg of the prestigious island-hopping series featuring the country's top cue artists, led by pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, and the up-and-coming ones.
“Billiards is the sport that we should not neglect because we already produced world-class players and we expect more world champions in the future. So I'm reiterating my support by holding tournaments such as the Villar Cup,” said Villar during the victory dinner party he hosted for newly-crowned 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour China leg champion Dennis Orcollo Tuesday night at Dencio's Restaurant in Harbour Square at the CCP Complex in Pasay City.
“I will also support other tournaments like the forthcoming Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown, as well as our players campaign in the international events,” added Villar, who also cited former world champion Alex Pagulayan for winning the Guinness Tour Singapore leg last July, and Ricky Zerna, who ruled the Knightshot Champions 9-Ball Challenge last week in the United Arab Emirates.
In return, the players, who belong to the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), expressed their gratitude and support to Villar in the ongoing controversy hounding him.
“We don't want to be involved in politics but as players, we will support Senator Villar all the way,” former world no.1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, who also attended the affair along with Pagulayan, former Asian Games gold medalist Gandy Valle and Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medak winner Warren Kiamco.
“We will be always behind Senator Villar because he brought a lot of opportunities not only for us but to other upcoming players to be recognized throughout the world,” said Orcollo.
Pagulayan, on the other hand, said “We are very thankful to Senator Villar because of his commitment to sponsor local tournaments.”
The Villar Cup Bacolod leg promises to be a lot more exciting than the tour's previous stops with the participation of eight foreign players, led by former champions Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany.
