PH billiards pins hope on Bata, Pacman

THE LOS ANGELES Times reported yesterday that the LAPD wanted to talk to Floyd Mayweather Jr. about a murder/suicide involving the famed boxer’s rapper friend and an actress/dancer. The report said detectives were seeking to question Mayweather on discussions he had had with the rapper on the day of the shootings.

Another report said Mayweather witnessed the murder/suicide via Face Time.

As expected, speculations rose Mayweather could use the case to continue ducking Manny Pacquiao.

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The boxing world is watching, but here at home there are brighter developments to savor, topped by the miraculous skirting of Metro Manila by Typhoon “Ruby.”

The Department of Trade and Industry yesterday bared Philippine export  growth is expected to hit 10 percent in  2014, higher than the 8 percent government  target. Trade Undersecretary Ponciano Manalo Jr. said Philippine Export  revenues are seen to breach the $100-billon mark in 2015.

Before this came news about heritage city Vigan making the “New 7 Wonders Cities” of the world, thereby joining Beirut, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur and La Paz.

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The other day, Philboxing.com posted a picture of the legendary world pool wizard  Efren “Bata” Reyes, robust and bright-faced, sizing up the table in General Santos City after a big conversion at the start of the MP Cup Philippine Open 10-Ball Championship.

Reyes, who considers himself unofficially retired, went on to win his opening game in the Pacquiao invitational where the eight-divison world title winner is dangling a total of $150,000 (P6.6 million) in prizes to an international field that included Mika Immonen, Shane Von Boening and Thorsten Hohmann.

Bata Reyes had earlier confided to this reporter that he could no longer hope to regain his old form after a laser eye procedure erased the ambiance, which he called panantya, from his gifted vision.

In truth, Reyes is in GenSan mainly to support Pacquiao in propping up billiards in the Philippines after the country was unofficially stripped of the distinction as epicenter of world pool, no thanks to animosity and infighting among stakeholders and other pseudo leaders in national pool.

In fact, Reyes had made an open wish for the game of billiards to be part of the UAAP and NCAA sports calendar.

Reyes said sports leaders and organizers must regroup and find a way to weed out talents from the countryside and develop them to world-caliber competitors, like what had happened to him.