Efren Bata Reyes : Pride of Filipino sportsmen in billiard championships and their history has been a process of training and skill acquisition. Starting from the world of pool to the amazing accomplishments of some great Filipinos in billiards and snooker, Philippines is the country with so many athletes could be proud of. Back to the series on the Filipino cue sport champions and their life stories that continues to make sports history forever.
The Philippines is a beautiful Southeast Asian archipelago country which people are associated with their culture, history and good nature. However, in this case, the Philippines can be considered to be one of the world leaders in sports like cue sports who have provided the best players, sportsmen, and champions to various competitions held at an international level. The path to transforming Filipino cue sport champions is a journey from innate skills to persistence and entrepreneurial drive on a national scale.
"Bilyar" or billiards is a long tradition and culture in the Philippines. It is mostly played in the United States during the early 20th century when the Americans colonized the Philippines and Filipinos started to indulge in the game. Bilyaran a, pool halls became popular institutions throughout the urban and rural areas and offered a place for social gatherings for individuals in the society.
It should be noted that billiards is a very important and well-developed sport in the Philippines. It is a passion to some and a lifestyle to a significant number. That led to the fact that betting on the sport was relatively easy – it needed only a table, a cue and balls to play the game and therefore be engaged in betting. This also led to the evolution of topnotch talent as children in the country began to perfect their art from the countless and well spread pool tables across the Philippines.
Most Filipino cue sport champions emerged in the late 20th century when Filipino cue sport players started making their names heard locally then internationally. The first big breakthrough was with the legendary Efren Bata Reyes who is one of the finest players this game has ever seen. His winning the 1999 World Nine-Ball Championship is a breakthrough that placed Filipino cue sport in the global limelight.
Efren Reyes became the source of inspiration for numerous aspiring players as “The Magician” called him because of charismatic capability to make shots that seemed to be not real. Through the success of his career – he became one of the best players in the world – Caro showed Filipinos that they could thrive and win in a highly competitive environment and thus ignited interest in billiards among Filipinos.
Thus, there is more to making world-class Filipino cue sport players than just having raw talent or innate skills. Filipino youngsters are often trained at the local pool halls by the seniors for the purpose of becoming players. The atmosphere in these bilyaran is usually friendly but with a degree of competition for one to better their game.
Recently, more organized schools and clubs have been opened to give potential players access to training under professional coaches using relatively better facilities. These institutions are very useful for the fine-tuning of skills of young talents and giving them the opportunity to compete in international competitions. Development at the bottom level and professional coaching has helped in ensuring that Filipinos maintain their superiority in cue sports.
Efren Reyes remains the most recognized cue sports figure, but the Philippines has featured many other winners and marvels who have cemented the country’s dominance in the game. Bustamante or also referred to as Django Bustamantes is a player with destructive playing style and powerful breaks but with incredible skill and world title multiple times winner.
Female players like Rubilen “Bingkay” Amit also belong to the list since they almost gain acceptance in a male sport only. Amit has won different world championships including the WPA women’s world nine -ball championship also which has made the philippines as one of the world’s power houses of both genders.
Faroado Carlo Biado, who won the 2017 WPA World Nine-Ball Championship, as well as Dennis Orcollo, a skilled player highly praised for his consistency, are only a few of the modern actors who are still doing their best to keep the Philippines at the top of the cue sports world.
The jump of Filipino as cue sport champions has also been bolstered by its government and private sector efforts. The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Billiard Sports Confederation of the Philippines (BSCP) have been instrumental in the development of the sport and in managing the national championships and rewarding the national team with travelling grants.
Sponsors and corporate entities have also realized the endless opportunities for cue sports in the Philippines, backing tournaments and promoting their players. This support has been instrumental in facilitating athletes from the Philippines who might have to travel and stay in long distances to participate in international competitions.
Nonetheless, the exposure that Filipino cue sport champions enjoy is further magnified by the mass media, radio, and television as well as technology esp. TV coverage and online streaming of games have made the excitement of billiards available not only on the pool halls but also in the households of the millions of Filipinos. This has not only raised the popularity level for the sport but also created new interest in the sport among new generation sportsmen.
This connection has been further increased by the use of social media networking. Patriots and fans of Filipino cue sport champions regularly follow their schedules, matches, and other pursuits by accessing pages like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The succeeding achievements notwithstanding, some of the challenges that Filipino cue sport athletes are facing is lack of support and structure relative to other games. It is also important to enhance the support for the training facilities for the athletes, coaching services, and the exposure of the athletes abroad in order to continue maintaining the competitive advantage of the country.
Considering the current state of the Filipino cue games, the future looks bright for these sports. Nevertheless, the passion for billiards does not die and with the discovery of new talents continues to demonstrate that the Philippines is the centre of large-scale world-class billiard players. Promoting the inclusion of cue sports like pool in school and university could help in fostering the brand and even open the sports to new opportunities.
The increase in numbers of Filipino cue sport champions in the world game is a reflection of the strong pool of talented Filipino players that are culturally inclined to pool tables and the drive for perfection in a game. Players like the icon Efren Reyes up to the present players of Aspinall, Canada; Bingtao Du, China; van Boening, USA; and the phenomenal youth from the Philippines Carlo Biado have made the sport fashionable with their winning and showmanship in the sport. Such players have given glory to the sport and pride to the country. In all of cue sports’ upcoming changes, Filipinos can rest assured that their country will play a vital part in the development of the sport and that future generations of cue sports buffs will continue to play the game with a lot of passion, promise, and, most of all, love for the game.
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