FILE – World champ Dennis Orcullo wins the eight ball single to advance the finals.
ROMY HOMILLADA
Just a glance at the members of the Philippine billiards team in the coming Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games gives an impression that majority of the gold medals are already theirs for the taking.
Former world champion Dennis Orcollo is in the lineup along with fellow world-ranked Filipino cue masters Carlo Biado, Warren Kiamco and Johann Chua as well as World Games 9-ball champion Chezka Centeno and former women’s 10-ball champ Rubilen Amit.
The legendary Efren “Bata” Reyes will be the singles entry in English billiards and will play alongside another legend in Francisco “Django” Bustamante in the doubles event.
“We will again top the medal standings if we could win three gold medals,” said Billiard Sports Confederation of the Philippines secretary general Robert Mananquil.
From among the seven events in pool, Mananquil said chances are strongest in men’s 9-ball singles and doubles and women’s 9-ball singles.
Orcollo is the reigning 9-ball singles champ in the SEA Games while Centeno and Amit finished 1-2 in the women’s side. Biado and Kiamco ruled the 9-ball men’s doubles in the 2015 Singapore Games.