Local players shoot for surprises in 9-ball event<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With marquee names such as Efren Reyes of the Philippines and
\nChao Fong Pang of Chinese Taipei here for the second leg of the
\n2005 San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour, local players will have to
\ndraw on their hometown advantage to provide surprises.<\/p>\n
"At home, I expect our players will kick you (foreign players)
\nout of the tournament and win the title," Indonesian Billiards
\nand Snooker Association (POBBI) chairman Putera Astaman said on
\nThursday during the announcement of the draw.<\/p>\n
The US$200,000 tournament has four legs: Singapore (March 4-
\n6), Jakarta (April 1-3), Kaohsiung, Taiwan (April 29-May 1) and
\nManila (June 3-5).<\/p>\n
For the opening leg, Indonesia sent Muhammad Junarto and
\nYudarman Kamaruddin, but they lost in early rounds. Filipino
\nGandy Valle won the $10,000 top prize.<\/p>\n
Four local players -- Junarto, Yudarman and wild cards
\nMuhammad Zulfikri and Robby Suarly -- will compete in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Among first round matchups, Yudarman has potentially the most
\ndifficult contest against Chao Fong Fang, the 1993 World 9-ball
\nchampion.<\/p>\n
Junarto meets Manan Chandra of India, Zulfikri will face
\nIbrahim bin Amir of Malaysia and Robby squares off against Nguyen
\nThan Nam.<\/p>\n
Robby said Yudarman was particularly unlucky in his draw.<\/p>\n
"The other draws are OK, including my game against the
\nVietnamese as I defeated him in the Bali International Open three
\nyears ago."<\/p>\n
If Robby comes through his first round contest, he is likely
\nto meet Reyes, the 1995, 1996 and 2000 World 8-ball champion.<\/p>\n
"Looking at the draw, it will be a great achievement for me if
\nI can beat Reyes."<\/p>\n
However, the Filipino does not underestimate his first-round
\nfoe, Japanese number one Kunihiko Takahashi.<\/p>\n
"We have met each other many times, so I know that it will be
\ndifficult for both of us," Reyes said.<\/p>\n
However, he said he wanted to win the second leg of the
\ntournament as he already lost the first leg in Singapore.<\/p>\n
"I like to play and win here as I have many fans and media
\nsupporting me," he said.<\/p>\n
Friday's games at Hanggar Billiard on Jl. Gatot Soebroto,
\nSouth Jakarta, will start at 10:30 a.m., with live coverage on
\nStar Sports cable station from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
The game of 9-ball is a rotation game in which a player must
\nhit the lowest numbered ball first. The object of the game is to
\npocket the 9-ball on any legal shot.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/local-players-shoot-for-surprises-in-9-ball-event-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}