MANILA, Philippines?For sure, the first-ever World Ten Ball Championship will not see a ?Magician? or a toothless wonder as champion. Neither will it crown a ?Lion? as one.

Heck, even ?Superman? will not get his chance at redemption in a setting as big as the one last year, when nerves proved to be his kryptonite. Neither will the world?s No. 1 player be around.

But even then, the foreign contingent in the $400,000 tournament still believes that the Philippines has a formidable cast in the event which gets going Monday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

?As Filipinos, they should be here, playing,? German top gun Ralf Souquet told the Philippine Daily Inquirer during the event?s launch Sunday at the Sofitel Hotel. ?We wouldn?t do that in Germany. Everyone will play for (our) country.

?Their absence doesn?t take anything away from the (local) field,? he added. ?Not having them doesn?t mean that it would make a foreigner a sure winner. The Philippines still has a lot of mighty good players out there.?

Souquet, a former World Pool Championship (9-ball) winner, was referring to a group of top Filipino players?led by fellow ex-world champs Efren ?Bata? Reyes, Ronnie Alcano and Alex Pagulayan, last year?s WPC runner-up Robert Gomez, and current world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo?which opted to sit out the event because of differences with organizers.

But the bald-headed German believes that ?anyone among the Filipinos (in the field)? could still pocket the $100,000 top prize and earn the distinction of being the first 10-ball world champion.

?I don?t have much experience playing 10-ball,? Souquet confessed. ?I have played, maybe, 8 to 10 tournaments in the last 10 years. Though I only won one, in 1999, in Charlotte (North Carolina), I?m giving myself a good chance here.?

Left to spearhead the local fight are Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica and the flamboyant Jeffrey de Luna, a trio of players which Malta?s Tony Drago, undoubtedly the fastest player in the world, said is talented enough to represent one country.

?The Philippines is well represented,? Drago said. ?Not having those players just took a little spice out of the event. But the Philippines remains formidable.

?And besides, who would want to miss playing here,? he asked. ?Playing pool in the Philippines is like playing soccer in Brazil.?

Manalo refused to acknowledge the pressure of being one of a few who is now being looked upon to deliver for the Filipinos.

?It would have been better had they been here,? Manalo, the recently crowned national champion, said of Reyes and company.

The opening ceremonies will be at 10 a.m. Monday. The draw was held late Sunday night.

A total of 128 players in the main draw will be divided into groups of six who will play a double elimination format. Play shifts to knockout in the last three days.

Wu Chia-ching, another former 9-ball champ, banners the rock-solid Taiwanese delegation.

Though he will be playing with a borrowed cue stick after losing his old one, worth more than P300,000, in a cab in Guangzhou, China, Wu is also giving himself a good chance.

Shane Van Boening, the consensus player to beat in last year?s WPC won by Englishman Daryl Peach, is also among the favorites.