The elimination round of the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup starts today (Monday, June 16) at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City.
Sixty-four players will see action in the two-day event, which is being organized by the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) and presented by San Miguel Beer. Sebastian Chua, BSCP treasurer, is host of the eliminations.
Fifteen players from China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Latvia compose the foreign contingent in this first stage of the Puerto Cup.
Notable among them are Chinese men's No. 1 He-wen Li, world junior champions Pin-Yi Ko and Hui-chan Lu, and Li Jia, Chinese women's champion.
Among the top Filipino bets in the competition are Jeffrey De Luna, winner of the 2007 Manny Pacquiao International Championship and Asian Games silver medalist, Elvis Calasang, Raymond Faraon and Edgar Acaba.
The players in Stage 1 will be contesting 13 spots in the main tournament (Stage 2) of the Puerto Princesa Cup, which will take place on June 21-22 in Palawan.
Two other spots were being contested as of press time in Puerto Princesa City by Palawan players. The winners will represent the city and the province in the main tournament.
Seventeen other players have already made it to Stage 2 of the Puerto Cup by virtue of their performance in the first leg of the Philippine Pool Tour (the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup) and their achievements as world champions.
Ralf Souquet and Chia-Ching Wu were awarded guaranteed spots by virtue of their being double world champions in nine-ball and eight-ball. Soquet is the 2008 world eight-ball champion.
