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PRO LEAGUE FOR BILLIARDS
Written by staff   
Thursday, 08 January 2009 03:54

Hopes are high that 2009 would be another banner year for Philippine billiards, especially with the long-dreamed creation of a professional league nearing its realization.

The much-awaited National Billiards League (NBL) is set to cue-off early this year with the preparation for its inaugural season now on its final stage.http://www.sportsnews.ph/images/ICONS/billiards.jpg
“We are all excited. The players, the managers, and the rest of the billiards community are all ecstatic to see the birth of the league that would elevate the sport of billiards to new heights,” said Perry Mariano, co-founder of the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP).

“As I’ve been saying before, the NBL would be the next big thing in Philippine sports entertainment, and it will start the new era of Philippine billiards,” added Mariano, who also heads the star-studded Bugsy Promotions, one of the biggest billiards stable in the country and perhaps the world.

Patterned after the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the NBL will have the country’s top cue artists, led by billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, bosom buddy and former World No. 1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, fellow former world champions Ronnie Alcano and Alex Pagulayan and current world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, along with a bunch of up and coming stars playing for corporate teams in a season-long team competition.

Ironically, just like the PBA, the NBL will also have Solar Sports as its broadcast partner.

For its inaugural season, the NBL will have eight teams of six players each mixing up in singles, doubles, team, and trick shots competitions.

The league will have its home in the AMF-Puyat Bowling Inn and Billiards Center in Malate, Manila, which is undergoing a P2.5-million renovation to make it a state-of-the-art venue for the world’s first season-long professional league.

Located along Taft Avenue , between Quirino and Remedios, Bowling Inn, as it is popularly known, will have what could be regarded as an astonishing and lively set-up. The organizers of the league want it to be more than just a plain billiards competition but one that also provides fascinating entertainment.

“The NBL is definitely a go,” said Philippine pool godfather Aristeo “Putch” Puyat. “We may have failed to meet our initial target date to start it because we want to make sure that we’ll cover all the bases before we launch it. But there’s really no turning back.”
Puyat added.

The NBL is a brainchild of Puyat, which he conceived almost a decade ago while staging and producing several top class tournaments in cooperation with TV partners Viva Vintage Sports.

It is now nearing realization thanks to the support of fellow billiards patrons Mariano and Jonathan Sy of the Negros Billiards Stable and the rest of the BMPAP members.
 
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