INQUIRER Sports

The most anticipated sporting event for Filipinos after the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight happens right here in the country?s backyard starting today.

While the Philippines continues to savor Pacquiao?s masterful conquest of Cotto en route to snatching an unprecedented 7th world boxing title in as many weight divisions last Sunday, the heavyweights of the pool world converge at the World Trade Center in Manila from Nov. 25-30 for the 2009 World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC).

?What we have right here is the biggest event in billiards,? said Yen Makabenta, chairman of the organizing Raya Sports and chairman of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP).

And there?s hardly an argument to that.

The WTBC is the only pool event this year with a world title at stake. It is also the biggest in terms of participation counting the players in the qualifying tournaments here and abroad. The event is also the most generous with a prize fund of $262,000.

The fact that the Filipinos have a fighting chance to go all the way to the WTBC crown, makes the event even more special for the country.

?All of our top guns are competing,? Makabenta said. ?There?s a good chance that we?re going to have another Filipino world champion here.?

But Makabenta is also the first to admit that the road to the top will be anything but rosy both for local and foreign competitors, noting that the best players from around the world are also coming.

Two-time world champion Ronnie Alcano and top-rated cue artists Marlon Manalo, Dennis Orcollo, Antonio ?Gaga? Gabica, Lee Vann Corteza and Jeffrey ?Jeff Bata? De Luna are set to lead the country?s charge against the visitors headed by defending champion Darren Appleton of England.

Also in the field are the equally fearsome Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening of the United States, Wu Chia-ching and Yang Ching-shun of Taiwan, Mika Immonen of Finland and Marcus Chamat of Sweden among others.