The 2006 World Pool Championships to be held in Manila will reach 130 million households around Asia and provide regional sponsors and flagship Filipino companies an opportunity to push their products to a huge market.
Harvey Davis, director of ESPN Star Sports said that aside from the Asian audience that will receive “live” coverage of the most prestigious pool event in the world, the worldwide leader in sports will also provide live feeds to leading channels in Britain, the US and Australia among others and packaged programming for TV stations in Canada. Hungary, Holland, Russia and the Scandinavian countries.
Matchroom Sports Media Director Luke Riches said “over the years we have had the great pleasure of witnessing the fabulous skills of many Filipino pool stars” including “The Magician” Efren “Bata” Reyes who was crowned champion in 1999 when the World Pool Championships was staged for the first time in Cardiff.
Riches said Matchroom Sport was proud to have developed it into “the biggest, most widely viewed spectacle in the billiards world.” Riches said that when Matchroom Sport first produced the World Pool Championships in 1999, the year Reyes won, “it was always one of our major ambitions to one day stage the event in a place we consider to be the Mecca of the modern game – the Philippines.”
Riches warmed the hearts of pool fans when he mentioned that ESPN Star Sports will carry “live” coverage of “nine pulsating days of action and we could be witnessing the greatest party the Philippines has ever seen.”
A huge contingent of Filipino pool stars led by Reyes, 2002 runner-up Francisco “Django” Bustamante, last year's semi finalist “Marvelous” Marlon Manalo and US open runner-up, veteran Jose “Amang” Parica as well as big money-game winner Dennis Orcollo are expected to lead the race for the top prize of $100,000 or P5.1 million with total prize money of $400,000 or P20.4 million.
