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Manila to Host Four-Nation Team Event in Pool
Feb 12, 2007, 2:10 PM

The chairman of the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines and Billiards Digest “Man of the Year” Yen Makabenta is planning a big four-nation team event in Manila for sometime between July and September.

Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today learned that the four team tournament would feature the top four pool playing nations – Germany, the U.S., Chinese-Taipei and the Philippines.

The idea is to pit the top countries in the world against each other, which would hopefully lead to a type of pool Olympiad.

Makabenta, whose Raya Sports staged the highly successful 2006 World Pool Championships at the Philippine International Convention Center, indicated he “wants to test it here in Manila first” and revealed that there were a couple of interested sponsors.

The success of the WPC was heightened by the dramatic victory of lanky Ronnie Alcano who defeated German ace Ralf Souquet in the final before a wildly cheering hometown crowd and millions more watching on television.

The plan tentatively calls for staging the four-nation showdown sometime before the 2007 World Pool Championship which returns to Manila from November 3-11.