EXCEPT for reigning double world champion Ronnie Alcano, the Philippines will field a new set of billiards aces in the second leg of the 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour, which will be held from May 18 to 20 in Kaohsiung, Chinese-Taipei.

This developed as the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) decided to field 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan and former Asian Games gold medalist Antonio Lining for the two slots allotted by the tour organizers.

The two will replace Lee Van Corteza and Dennis Orcollo, who competed in the opening leg last weekend in Jakarta .

Organizers Guinness Beer and ESPN-Star Sports retained Alcano, a Guinness image model, but replaced Jeff de Luna with Doha Asian Games gold medalist Antonio “Gaga” Gabica for the second slot of their choice.

Alcano, Corteza, Orcollo and de Luna all failed in Jakarta, with Corteza yielding in the final to unheralded Taiwanese Chang Jung-lin.

“No, its not because we failed to win the opening leg that we are replacing Lee Van, Dennis and Jeff. It’s just that we want to give all our players the chance to play in that tournament, and even before the tour started, we already announced that Lining and Alex will take the two slots allotted to the BSCP,” Fajardo explained.

“Lee Van, Dennis, and even Jeff can still be considered in the succeeding legs. But as much as possible we want all our top players to be given a chance to play in the tour,” added Fajardo.

Formerly known as San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Pro Tour, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour is the only pool event in Asia that offers slots to the prestigious World Pool Championship (WPC).

Unfortunately, the change of title sponsor made it impossible for Efren “Bata” Reyes and Django Bustamante, to see action in the tour. They have exclusive endorsement contracts with San Miguel Corp.

After Kaohsiung, the tour will have its third stop in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 to 17, followed by Singapore on July 13 to 15 and Shanghai on August 3 to 5, before holding for the first time a Grand Finals in Bali, Indonesia, on August 31 to September 2 featuring the top 10 players from the previous legs. --Ian Brion

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EXCEPT for reigning double world champion Ronnie Alcano, the Philippines will field a new set of billiards aces in the second leg of the 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour, which will be held from May 18 to 20 in Kaohsiung, Chinese-Taipei.