Introducing Manila Patriots

August 27, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

The Philippines is an emerging economy nation of more than 100 million people, and Filipinos have traditionally and of necessity, engaged in sports with minimal costs with basketball, boxing, chess (yes, it is considered a sport in the Philippines) and of course pool, all extremely popular.

When a foreign pool player comes to the Philippines, the first thing he discovers is that there are pool tables on EVERY one of its 7,000+ islands. And with that comes a multitude of pool players of all levels in all parts of the country – and who ALL want to be a Bustamante, Alcano, Reyes, Corteza, Manalo, Kiampo, Biado, Orcollo – the list just goes on and on! The sport’s various feeder systems have in excess of 100,000 players!

It is against this background that “Manila Patriots”, a bunch of foreigners who have had the opportunity to learn and improve their game in the Philippines, when “learn” in this context can be defined as “If you think you are good, then just hang on for a moment and a guy will show up who looks like a taxi driver, fighter, doorman or congressmen (Paquiao will take your money), puts you in your place and takes your money!”

10 of the top 20 pool players in the world are Filipinos – and expats are great $$ targets for the citizenry of their great country.

Yes, what the Patriots team of expats has learned is how to play pool “Filipino style” with a wealth of teaching and experience that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The majority of the Manila Patriots team come from the leading amateur pool club in the country, the Makati Pool Players Association (MAPPA ), headed by its President, and Philippines pool icon, Jesse Gonzales Cambosa.

In fact it was Jesse, teaming up with fellow MAPPA member and current Dragon Promotions’ International Tournament Director for the Women’s World 10-ball Championships Lorenz Laureola, who took the positions of team manager and captain of the team respectively, and who have now put the Patriots team together.

With the help of many mutual friends in the Manila and Angeles City pool communities, the pair have been able to bring together a strong 15 man team plus reserves to carry the banner of the Philppines in the 2013 Asia Expat Pool Challenge being held at the Grand Kemang Hotel in Jakarta , Indonesia on September 13th/14th.

Last word to Patriots team manager Jesse Cambosa, who summarises as follows:

Our team consists of players from Manila and Angeles City, home of the Angels and Bata Reyes. and where Makati Cinema Square is home for Puyat Sports – 100 great shooters can be found playing there on any given night, all very keen to improve the “experience” of the many expats who drop by to enjoy a game of pool and a beer or two. Do join them if you should ever find yourself in the Philippines.

Our team is a first year team that will grow up very quickly over the next 30 days ….. you don’t know us today, but in future, with our accumulating experience of playing the best, and training from unmatchable on the job teachers ….. buckle up!!

Thanks Jesse, we are all looking forward to seeing that “Filipino style” in Jakarta next month!

Singapore Expat Qs

August 23, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

Singapore’s team for the Asia Expat Pool Challenge is made up of a mix of expatriates from across the globe, meeting each week to practice and compete with each other – and socialise after a hard day at the office.

The team itself is now called Singapore Expat Q’s (SEQ’s, pronounced SEX)

The team first got together in September 2012 when there wasn’t an Expat Pool scene per se in Singapore, with founder David Gardner using Social Media, including his connections on LinkedIn initially, when the following was to attract the attention of what became the core of the team!

‘This is a group for Expats in Singapore to meet up for a few beers after work, socialize and have a few frames of Pool!! Simple really.’

SEQ’s now has a respectable following on Twitter and its own Facebook page – and has over 130 members of 33 different nationalities when last checked! A true reflection on the modern multi-cultural Singapore, which is a melting pot for a great variety of expatriate professionals.

What is perhaps unique about SEQ’s is that it is not formed out of players from a specific bar or pool league, instead, changing the location of where they meet each week to play and, through growing connections, challenge other local and expatriate teams – and grow the group by attracting new members. Of the existing members, there are competitive (and social!) players and social players, with the former making up the travelling contingent to Jakarta in September.

The majority of the players in the SEQ’s team are male, mainly from the UK, USA and a broad swathe of Asia, and ranging in age from 30 to 45 with professions as diverse as Engineers, Lawyers, Financial Advisors, Accountants, Teachers and Managing Directors – but all united by a shared passion for 8 Ball pool!!

For this, the first International tournament for the team, 20 players will be travelling to Jakarta in September when SEQ’s are looking forward to getting the AEPC under their belts, and then continue to build the team towards future events.

It’s difficult to predict where in the standings SEQ’s will finish in Jakarta, however, the team is made up of serious Expat pool players who really are not fond of losing, and bring many years of experience to the table having previously played competitively in their home countries and elsewhere, and now in Singapore.

A SEQ’s player to watch out for in September is Rico Santiago, from Manila in the Philippines where Rico started playing pool at the tender age of 12 years.

In Rio’s own words, “Back then, tournaments were rare and at the age of 15 I was already playing serious pool but didn’t consider myself a pro, but I was learning how to hustle!”.

At the age of 17 Rico moved to Canada and started playing there when he was to meet pool star Alex Pagulayan who has won numerous world championships. It was then that he had his first taste of tournament play. The tournaments Rio played were at entry point level and, although he lost more games than he won, it did give him invaluable experience at a higher level. Rica plays all forms of the games from 8 ball, through 9 ball to 10 ball.

After living in Canada for 15 years Rio moved back home to Manila, though at first he didn’t play a lot because he had lost contact with people and the country has changed so much. After a while, however, he found the pool table calling him back and has since played regularly, first in Manila and now, very pleasingly, since relocating to Singapore.

Finally, SEQ’s are ready for battle in Jakarta and enormously looking forward to the event where they hope, and maybe even expect, to bring off a few surprises!!

Saigon Legends

August 20, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

The Saigon Legends are a new team, hot off the presses after having been formed for this competition at the encouragement of Brian Piggott and somehow, in just a few short months, their captain August Lee has managed to assemble a team willing and, hopefully, able to compete.

The city is of course now called Ho Chi Minh City, though locals, expats and holiday makers alike still prefer to refer to it by its older and more romantic name, Saigon. August is keen to point out that the team name reflects the legend of the city itself, rather than the standing of the players!

There is currently no pool league in Saigon, though many players congregate in the Red Bar deep in the heart of District 1, the main social and entertainment area. The bar is an expat focal point, with live music and a very busy pool table.

The players are a disparate bunch of enthusiasts who socialise and have fun, mainly at the weekends, and come from many nations around the world including Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand, Romania, Scotland, Singapore and Thailand.

Just about as much a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural expat group as you could hope to meet therefore, coming from all walks of life and occupations, but with all somehow ending up in Saigon. And now they find themselves representing their chosen home in the prestigious AEPC tournament in Indonesia!!

The Legends are anticipating their first appearance in the Asia Expat Pool Challenge with a mixture of excitement and no little trepidation given the expected strength of some of the other teams, while Saigon Legends is a group of guys who like to have fun and who just love to play pool. That said, they are fiercely proud to represent their adopted city and of course Vietnam. They will certainly compete; they might be a bunch of guys having fun in the bar, but on the table their competitive nature takes over!

The guys are all hoping that the Expat Challenge might kick-start more players into coming forward and, hopefully, this could eventually lead to the formation of a league in Saigon. The competition is already getting plenty of people talking in Vietnam’s largest city and two bars, the Red Bar and Bar 5, are already planning special events on the day, with the live stream from Jakarta showing on big screens. Everyone hopes that more bar owners will see the benefit of having a good quality pool table in their bars and thereby help improve the breed

The Saigon Legends are thrilled to represent their adopted home and delighted to be at the Asia Expat Pool Challenge 2013.

Shanghai Sharks

August 10, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

The Shanghai 8 Pool League was formed in 2006 by a group of long stay Shanghai friends, Rob Jones (UK), Peter Eggli (Switzerland), Adrian Young (Australia) & Ron Lindsay (Canada) – pool enthusiasts all.

The original league consisted of just four teams at two bars when, in late 2007, Paul Gray (Canada), the current president and captain was brought in to expand the league until today when there are 47 teams and approximately 600 members!

In its current format, the Shanghai 8 Ball Pool League has a total of 5 divisions and 3 Leagues with 2 levels of play. The top division is composed mainly of Semi-Pro and a few Current and Ex-Pro players together with a handful of expats trying to improve their game against top Chinese talent.

League Night is every Thursday and has become a great way to meet people and visit different venues – many of which would have never otherwise have been heard of – and has become a staple where individuals’ weekly schedules are concerned!

Shanghai’s participation in the 2013 AEPC event, as Shanghai Sharks, will be the League’s second. After making it to last year’s event in Bangkok with a scratch group of relentless party-goers, Shanghai realised that the level of play was much stronger than anticipated – and intend to put in a much better effort than its P120-W29-L91 record of last year.

The top foreign players in the Shanghai league are predominantly Taiwanese and Singaporean and are being encouraged to participate this year but, in any event, the team will consist of many nationalities from all over the globe – and all determined to improve Shanghai’s record from 2012 AEPC!

The Shanghai 8 Pool League has its own website which can be found here.

Jakarta All Stars

August 6, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

The Jakarta All Stars is the chosen name for the expatriate amateur pool team which represents Jakarta during the Asia Expat Pool Challenge. Selection is limited to registered players within existing pool leagues, the primary source being the Jakarta Pool League.

The Jakarta Pool League, or JPL as it is often referred to, has been in existence since 2002 and provides opportunities for players to compete and socialize. The league organizes two separate competitions each year, the Jakarta Expat and Ladies Pool League (JEPL) and the Jakarta International and Ladies Pool League (JIPL).

The league currently has 310 players from 16 teams, representing 9 bars.

The Jakarta All Stars and all arrangements with regards to the Asia Expat Pool Challenge are organized by the Jakarta All Stars Organizing Committee, a group of volunteers from within the pool community who are representative of sponsors, bar owners and players. They meet regularly throughout the year and are responsible for event management, team selection, player preparation, attracting sponsors and all financial, administrative and logistical requirements related to a team travelling within the Asia Pacific region.

The Jakarta pool community provides a diverse cross-section of players to choose from when JAS selection takes place, from young exciting stars to seasoned veterans. Some players have been involved in the Jakarta pool scene since its inception, whilst many “new kids on the block” crawl out of the woodwork each year, to challenge the old dogs.

The fundamental goal is to expand social circles and develop long term friendships whilst having fun playing a game that we all love, and love to hate when narrowly losing to Bangkok (twice).

Considering the initiatives that have been put in place during 2013, the JAS Team is confident they will be able to turn the tables, and bring the trophy to Jakarta, where it belongs. Further to enhancing personal pool skills over a broader spectrum, a development initiative has commenced which includes personalized coaching for players to “Get to the next level”, which is also the motto of the AEPC.

One of the JAS stalwarts, and a member of the JAS team since 2011 is Klaudia Djajalie, a 24 year old Malaysian national working in Jakarta as a part time translator. Her hobbies are playing pool (of course), basketball, tennis, watching movies and traveling.

Klaudia started playing pool when she was 15. After school, she and her friends used to go to Cilandak Townsquare, a shopping mall in South Jakarta. On one such day they wandered into the local pool hall and started having a few fun games between friends.

The friends enjoyed it to the extent that they returned 2-3 times a week, and eventually became involved in a broader pool playing community. Klaudia was then invited by friends to join the JPL. Klaudia has won several local singles and doubles tournaments through the years and has represented Malaysia at the SEA Games 2012 and Asian Indoor Games 2013. She is the 2012 JIPL Singles Champion, the 2013 JEPL Singles Champion, and together with her pool partner Alex McMillan, is the 2012 & 2013 Indonesian Expat 8-Ball Doubles Champion.

Klaudia’s ambition is to improve to the point where she can participate in the professional ranks.

HCMC become Saigon Legends

August 3, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

The team representing Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City are delighted to announce that they have secured have changed their name to Saigon Legends.

A little risky naming a new team “Legends” but their performance in the upcoming Challenge in September will go a long way to telling us whether they deserve the tag.

Good luck Legends!!

Bankgok Pool League – The Inside Story

July 29, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

In the run up to the 2013 Challenge we will, over the next 6 weeks, be running a feature on each of the participating teams, with this week seeing the inside story on Bangkok pool and its team, playing as Bangkok Pool League – and written by that icon of pool in Bangkok, Mark Dulgov.

After editing, each of the articles will appear in the Jakarta Globe.

The “Pool Scene” in Bangkok is rather unique, as is true for the city of Bangkok itself. The sport grew steadily during the 90’s, more as a vehicle for bringing people together for social interaction than serious and intense competition. Pool tables in Bangkok were places where boy could meet girl, and tourists and expats could interact in casual recreation.

The Bangkok Pool league began in the late 90’s, amongst a small group of expatriate bars who had a regular contingent of playing customers competing against each other for bragging rights on the night.

The concept worked well, and the league continued to grow to a high of over 50 venues with over 1,000 people playing in a given season. It gave the expatriate community a social vehicle that previously had been lacking; an opportunity to network and meet people, and a chance to check out new venues. It brought Thai and Westerner together, and eased cultural differences. People play in it for a variety of reasons, and the league accommodated them by separating into divisions that would allow them the freedom to do so. Those looking for serious competition, those looking for a fun night out on the town, those looking to improve their games, and those simply looking to meet new people and explore new venues were all afforded the opportunity to do so within league play. Participating bars were able to expand their customer base, and bar staff were assured of a reasonable turnout on pool nights.

The league opted not to hold regular tournaments, instead providing growing list of potential new players for those pool bars that did.

There had previously been a large gap between the serious pool player and those playing simply for recreation, and the Bangkok Pool League created a bridge between the two. Those with a talent for the game were able to develop it and improve. Rivalries developed between players, usually taking both to a higher level of play. All of the players are amateurs, but league play has created something they can take pride in. Those rivalries will disappear when the Bangkok Pool League brings its team to Jakarta for the Asia Expat Pool Challenge, and all will unite for the rare experience of playing together as a team representing the city we all live in at an international event.

The Bangkok Pool Leagues’ participation in the Asia Expat Pool Challenge will be much along the lines of the way we run our league. The top players are excited about the opportunity to go up against those playing for the other cities, and there will be a sizeable group of league players attending simply for the enjoyment of being a part of such a special event. The Bangkok Pool League contingent will likely be the largest of the visiting teams. All will be part of our team, and it will be comprised of people from over 10 countries. We are the 2-time Champions of the event, and know that the other teams will be targeting us. Bring em on!

The Bangkok entry will feature players ranging from 25 to 55 years old. The youngest, and one of its anchors, will be 25 year old Pontus Reece from Stockholm Sweden. Pontus began playing at the age of 10, and was a rising star at the junior level. He was a 7-time Swedish junior Champion and 4 time runner-up. He competed as a junior in events throughout Europe, and was a member of the Swedish national team for 8 years. He was twice runner-up in the European Junior 8-Ball Championships. He moved to Thailand with his family 5 years ago, and has been practicing toward taking his game to the next level and making a career of it. Expect to see more of him soon at International events throughout Southeast Asia.

JAKARTA GLOBE – MEDIA PARTNER TO AEPC 2013

July 11, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

An exciting development for the Asia Expat Pool Challenge 2013 is that the Jakarta Globe(#) news publication has become official Media Partner to the event and has pledged to give media coverage of the AEPC 2013 – and will also sponsor the team uniforms for Jakarta All Stars.

The media coverage planned includes:

Newspaper advertisements and editorial coverage in the Jakarta Globe Sports section (JG Sports#) from the week beginning 15 July 2013.

Live streaming televised coverage by JG Sports on Internet and Mobile platforms, available throughout Asia so fans from other cities not attending the Jakarta Event will be able to watch the event live.

Video Coverage on the Jakarta Globe TV channel available on First Media

This is indeed a major step forward in not only promoting the Asia Expat Pool Challenge Event but also amateur pool in Asia where the game has a huge following.

More news to follow, with only eight weeks to go so make sure you check out our website regularly.

#Jakarta Globe and JG Sports are brands of BeritaSatu Media Holdings, a media group aimed at decision makers.

Lots decided and clarified

April 30, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

ASIA EXPAT POOL CHALLENGE CONFERENCE
A meeting was held with all participating city organizers at the Grand Kemang Hotel on Saturday 27th April and below are the highlights of what was decided.

ASIA EXPAT POOL CHALLENGE – SUPER 12 SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
A new innovation of a singles championship will be held in Jakarta in April 2014. Qualification for players to be eligible for this event are as follows
1) Must play in the AEPC Team event being held in Jakarta in September 2013.
2) Twelve players will be invited to compete in the Super 12 Singles Championship
3) The top qualifier based on a win / loss record from each participating city will automatically qualify for the singles completion – 5 players from 5 Cities.
4) The remaining 7 positions will be the top ranked players from the AEPC Team Event not qualifying under 3).
5) Sponsorship of the event will be provided by Steel Blue – 1st USD$2000 / 2ND USD$1000 & 3rd USD$500 . In addition to the prize money airfares and hotel will be paid for all visiting players.

SUBSTITUTION RULES HAVE BEEN AMENDED.
1) There is now no limit on the number of players that can be used for substitutions.
2) Players substituted on day one of the event will be eligible to return to play on day two of the event.
3) Any player substituted cannot play for the remainder of that particular day.

PARTICIPATING CITIES
1) KL have been omitted from the 2013 Event due to unforeseen circumstances. This means that the Challenge will be played with five participating cities.
2) HCMC (Saigon) have registered their interest for participating in 2013 but this is not confirmed.

There will be more announcements about the 2013 Event, so keep visiting the website leading up to this year’s competition being held in Jakarta on 13 & 14 September 2013.

2013 Challenge venue and timings firmed up!

February 6, 2013 AdminLeave a comment

Mastermind Brian Piggott informs us that, after a heavy duty selection process carried out by the Jakarta All Stars committee, it has been decided the 2013 Asia Expat Pool Challenge will be held in the ballroom of the Grand Kemang Hotel in Jakarta on Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th September.

The actual playing times will be:

13th September – 13:00 until 22.00

14th September – 13:00 until 21:30

Almost as importantly, the traditional Meet and Greet will be held at FEZ DUNGEON, also in Kemang, on Thursday 12th September from 19:00 until 22:00.

Make a note in whatever passes for your diary these days!