Asia's only premier 9-ball tour makes its historic first staging in Jakarta as the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour takes place from April 1st to 3rd at Hanggar Billiard & Recreation Center. For the first time, local pool fans will get a chance to watch world class players up close as they compete in such a high level event in Indonesia. The top players confirmed to appear include Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante from the Philippines and Fong-Pang Chao and Ching-Shun Yang from Chinese Taipei. All the action from Jakarta will air LIVE to more than 50 countries in Asia on STAR Sports at 1600 hrs on April 1, 1000 hrs on April 2 and 0930 hrs on April 3 (Jakarta time).
Reyes, Bustamante, Chao and Yang head an impressive cast of Asian cue artists who will embark on a mission to earn enough qualifying points towards the World Professional Pool Championships in July. The Tour is the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify to the World Professional Pool Championships. The top ten finishers at the end of this year's Tour will automatically enter the World Professional Pool Championships.
Now in its third year, the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour is offering a total prize money purse of US$50,000 up for grabs at this weekend's Jakarta leg and on each subsequent stop of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour in Kaohsiung (April 29 - May 1) and Manila (June 3-5). The main draw includes 32 top Asian players from 12 countries/ regions.
Unheralded Gandy Valle of the Philippines topped this year's first leg in Singapore and claimed the top prize of US$10,000. The 31-year old Valle nipped 16-year old pool prodigy Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese Taipei in the finals, 11 - 9.
Last year saw the 50-year old Reyes rule three of the Tour's five legs. The player known as the "Magician" took home the leg titles in Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Taipei. 2002 Busan Asian Games 9-Ball singles gold medalist Yang topped the Hong Kong leg while Lee Van Corteza of the Philippines triumphed in Manila.
At this second leg of 2005, host Indonesia is represented by Muhamad Junarto, Yudarman Kamarudin, Muhammad Zulfikri and Robby Suarly
The competition will start on April 1 at 1030hrs-2030hrs, on April 2 at 1000hrs-1600hrs and on April 3 at 0930hrs-1400hrs. For tickets information, please call the official venue Hanggar Billiard & Recreation Center at (021) 790 1953.
For more information on the Tour, please check out www.asian9-balltour.com. For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports, catch us on the net at www.espnstar.com.
