Billiards: "Bata" Reyes and Co. ask PSC for pool hall use

MANILA, July 4 (PNA)-- Time is running short for preparations and training of elite Filipino athletes, particularly the billiards players led by Efren “Bata” Reyes, for the coming Laos Southeast Asian Games in December.

For this reason, the country’s top cue artists have asked the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to allow them to use its facilities available at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC).

In their letter through Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) president Arturo “Bong” Ilagan, the players asked PSC Chairman Harry Angping to reopen the pool hall at the RMSC so they can resume the tryout and the training for the biennial meet.

“We’ve already written the PSC twice and as early as April and we hope we could get a favorable response,” said Ilagan.

Meanwhile, the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), which agreed to lend their professional player-members to the national team, took a potshot at Angping’s recent statement calling on the athletes to step up their preparation for the SEA Games.

“How can you expect the athletes to step up when you, as mandated by law to provide the necessary needs of the athletes, are not giving what you’re supposed to,” said BMPAP president Atty. Vic Rodriguez.

“In the case of billiards, we don’t have chalks, we don’t have cue sticks, we don’t have table and we don’t have a venue to train. So how can our players step up?” added Rodriguez.

It must be recalled that the PSC stopped the qualifying tournament being staged by the BSCP last April and padlocked the Rizal Memorial Billiards Hall.

In requesting for the reopening of the venue, Ilagan particularly cited the case of Reyes, who had signified his intention to play in the SEA Games in the carom and English billiards.

Ilagan said that while Reyes remains the best in both disciplines, the 55-year-old pool icon has not played them for a long time, and there is no other venue he could practice them except in the RMSC.

“Also in snooker, we can’t find other venue to practice it. So we’re appealing to Chairman Angping to allow us to use the venue in Rizal Memorial,” explained Ilagan.

“We’re very happy when Efren accepted our invitation for him to be part of the national team again and play in the SEA Games. We're ashamed because we can't provide a venue for him to practice."