KUWAIT CITY, April 3: Dennis Poliquit put in an excellent performance to walk home with the crown in the Filipino Billiards Club in Kuwait (FBCK) Western Union Summer Cup at the Hotline Billiard Hall in Salhiya Complex, Kuwait City, Friday.
This tournament was made possible through the efforts of FBCK President Chito Carlos along with more than a handful of support from FBCK Adviser Renz Balintos and a team of FBCK organizers who put in a lot of hard work to ensure the success of competition. Besides Carlos and Balintos, the organizing team was composed of Rey Soriano - Treasurer, Bong Tablan - Secretary and Edmond Walt Bravo - FBCK Coordinator.
The FBCK Technical Committee had earlier decided on holding the tournament on a 9-Ball mode of game in three categories composed of Class A, B and C with a race to 7 frames in the final round. After the elimination round, winners in each category were required to compete against each other with the Class B (handicapped) receiving a handicap of 2 frames while the Class C (handicapped) were given a handicap of 3 frames when they were competing against players from the Class A category.
The 3 top players were then declared as the champion, 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up title.

Finals
Dennis Poliquit who led Class C put up a tough fight and found the all the balls in the right places to edge past Class A leader Allan Villamor in a mouthwatering clash but the game went right to the last frame before Poliquit took the match 7-6.
Poliquit had the advantage of starting of with three victories, due to the 3-frame handicap he received for taking on a Class A player, the first frame of the match saw Villamor get off to a rough start when he incurred two fouls while Poliquit applied his wits to place the Q ball in the right spot that gave his opponent a difficult shot and the frame to Poliquit a 4-0 lead. It appeared that Villamor’s “bad luck” continued in the second frame when there were only two balls left on the table as he produced a “scratch” that gave the advantage to his opponent to finish the task and take another frame to lead the match 5-0.
With the lead now so huge there was intense pressure on the shoulders of Poliquit as he now needed only two frames to win to take the game and with it the title but his last shot on the 9 ball fell short that handed an opportunity to Villamor to score his initial victory and narrow the match a little.
With a victory at last in one frame, Villamor saw a boost in his confidence and he showed a lot of focus in his game and he took another frame when he made a combination of 3 and 9 that closed the gap to 2-5 frames. Villamor after this point showed some real class when he did not give any chance to his rival to take any shot as he cleared the table and further reduced Poliquit’s lead to 3-5 that brought cheers from the observers.
Villamor did not falter in the next frame while Poliquit appeared to misplace his grip on the Q stick that generated a foul while Villamor made sure of taking the next frame to close the gap to 4-5. Villamor once again showed some real class when he cleared the balls on the table to stun his opponent as both the players were now level 5-5 and the advantage that Poliquit had of the three frames at the start of the match had now evaporated.
The 8th rack saw Villamor determined to win as he never left any ball unattended and put them correctly into the pockets. It was not long before Villamor had control of the match as he took the frame to lead 6-5.
But the match was far from over although by now Villamor needed to win only one more frame to take the title. However, it appeared to be Poliquit’s “lucky day” when Villamor missed a shot and although he managed to put it in a difficult spot Poliquit made sure that his thorough approach have him the right pot and with it the frame to tie the match again 6-6 that pushed the game into a deciding frame.
The crowd gathered around the table and they saw Villamor miss the last 3 balls to give the advantage to Poliquit who took his time to gauge every shot and he seemed to measure every inch of the table as he put the final ball in the corner pocket to take the match 7-6 for his first championship crown.
Semifinals
Earlier in the semifinals Adel Mercado (re-entry) found his lucky shot to top Class B and face Villamor in the next stage of the competition. Mercado who received a handicap of two frames before the game started put a lot of effort and it seemed he would brush aside Villamor at one point as he led the match by 5-1 frames.
But it seems that “luck” deserted Mercado just when he needed it as he had to win only two more frames and move into the finals but Villamor was not finished and had other ideas as he put up his best performance, showed a lot of accuracy and focus as he put a stop to his rival’s run.
From this point onward Villamor was so dominant and displayed an excellent game all the way to the finish line when he swung the rest of the sets in his favor to win the match by 7-5 frames that moved him into the championship finals.
Class A Semifinals
Earlier in the Class A semifinals, FBCK President Chito Carlos (re-entry) was in his best form to overwhelm Sultan Mohammad (re-entry) by an easy 7-3 frames while Allan Villamor went into a hole of the needle when he brushed aside two of the premium Class A players. He first thrashed Rene Torrecampo 7-2 frames but in his next game he was made to sweat to edge FBCK President Chito Carlos 7-5 frames that moved him to the next level.
Class C Semifinals
Dennis Poliquit on the other hand put in his best efforts in the earlier semifinal games when he fought for every frame against one of Class B’s finest Dodoy de Tablan before winning by 7-6 frames and then going on to overwhelm FBCK Treasurer Rey Soriano by 7-4 frames that put him in control of Class C.
Award Recipients:
Champion: Dennis Poliquit
1st runner-up: Allan Villamor
2nd runner-up: Adel Mercado
FBCK officials have announced that their upcoming Independence Day Cup will be held in May at the same venue. For details contact FBCK President 6652-8809 and FBCK Adviser Rhenz Balintos 9928-9034.
FBCK organizers would like to thank their sponsors Vangie Gernale and Marimel Labastida from Western Union Money Transfer and Hotline Billiards for supporting their event.