MANILA, Philippines—Jeers to the bluffers who wasted hefty sums in a bid to wreck the ongoing World Ten Ball championship at the PICC.

The tournament is already a qualified success even before it could enter the crucial quarterfinals.

There will be more classic matches out there at the PICC within the week.

Take this from one who nearly skipped the series because Bata Reyes and his gang of rated Pinoy pool pistoleros decided to boycott the World Ten Ball series.

Ten ball, with its exacting format that practically eliminates raw luck (tsamba), is the game to propose if they plan to sell billiards for inclusion in future Olympics.

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What a show it was as Filipino Jeffrey de Luna showed up like an overgrown canary and pecked his way back from the cliff in a game worthy of preserving, together with other Bata Reyes classics.

Stunning in his cartoon-character hairdo, De Luna assumed full stardom before a sparse crowd, flashing steel nerves and sharpness in advancing to the round of 32.

De Luna had looked gone after he was shaken and buried by Santor Tot, a burly, fat-faced Serbian, maybe the finest defensive player in the world today, 5 to 8, in the main match late Thursday.

The epic claw-back had the spectators, on the edge of their seats, erupting like members of a college ball cheering squad.

It's a big, big wow!

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Woe to the fans who allowed themselves to be swayed by doomsayers who did not see anything good with the World Ten Ball championship and its intrepid producers.

Of course, Demosthenes Pulpul was anything but dull in pulling off a shining win over Jasmin Ouschan, the slim blonde Austrian and top woman entry, who had been turning heads both with her looks and masterful game.

But the brilliant Pulpul, who fumbled after reaching the hill, 8-7, in the race to nine, had to pray hard, his eyes closed, to squeeze out a miracle miss from the Austrian blonde bombshell.

Ouschan's thin cut on the orange 5-ball bubbled on the right corner pocket, thereby sending Pulpul, now all lit up, onto an easy clearout and the crucial win.

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Now, hold it. By the time De Luna was through with his classic comeback, it was already 3:15 in the morning for this television viewer, who had to stay up for the delayed broadcast.

"If one Filpino or more make it to the semifinals, ABS-CBN has promised to carry the games live," announced Tony Baranda, resident worrier of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, tournament organizer and host.

The series is being broadcast over Studio 23, but there's a great chance of it being moved to a more popular channel by ABS-CBN, Baranda added.

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Anyway, going by the sound of the sparse crowd, doomsayers have visibly succeeded in painting a sordid picture of both the World Ten Ball series and its tested organizers who also mounted the successful 2006 and 2007 World Pool Championships.

If you haven't even taken a peek at PICC, or tuned in your TV to Studio 23, you too must've been victimized by the lies peddled in the media about the men behind the World Ten Ball series, like super trader Sebastian Chua and the internationally decorated Yen Makabenta, a respected and accomplished writer.

They're holding a great international event at the PICC.

You don't know what you're missing, folks.