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SINCE
the inception of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour last year, the
Taiwanese have dominated the tournament by winning every
leg—all five stops last year including the Grand
Final—and the first two stages this season thus far.
Here’s a
telling statistic—except for last year’s Shanghai leg,
at least two Taiwanese players have reached the
semifinals of every stop.
At the
recent stop in
Penang,
Malaysia,
four Taiwanese players made it to the semifinals.
Needless to say, it was an all-Taiwanese final. Now,
unless you’re Taiwanese, you won’t be blamed for
thinking there’s more suspense and thrills to be found
in a computer manual.
Blessed
with an inquisitive mind, I set about investigating why
the Taiwanese guys always do so well on this particular
tour. Is it something they’re secretly eating? Perhaps
it’s an ancient method of breathing before each match?
Or maybe special stretching exercises that date back to
when Taiwanese cue master Chao Fong-pang ruled the World
Championship?
So I
tracked down another world champion Wu Chia-Ching, who
won in 2005 when he was just 16 years old. Surely, such
early success meant he had a few of these secrets
drummed into his young and moldable head. Wu is now
freshly out of his 19th birthday but very much still in
the throes of adolescence, complete with the persistent
acne and teenage gauche. Unfortunately, I could not get
a word out of him, because he was sitting with, and
humbly deferring to his mentor, Yang Ching-Shun.
Now Yang
is a highly revered pool player, although he does not
have the world championship title to his name. He still
holds the honor of having won the most titles on the
Asian tour since it started in 2004. Last year Yang
stated very calmly that he could easily beat any pool
player in the world, and the one exception was perhaps
the legendary Efren Reyes from the Philippines.
I asked
him why the Taiwanese players constantly do so well on
the Asian tour as compared with the other pool
powerhouse, the Philippines. Yang said the Taiwanese
have more experience on this tour, and he’s right. You
often see the same guys competing here. So they are more
familiar with the rules and format of this tournament.
He also
stated that when you compare technical skills, the two
countries are pretty equal. However, the Taiwanese can
be counted on to produce a more consistent performance.
As I
pondered on Yang’s opinion over dinner, I was distracted
by a loud commotion next to us. It turned out to be the
diminutive dynamite Alex Pagulayan from the
Philippines. As
he sat down, we invited him to join us, to which he
answered by ordering a round of tequila shots.
He was
knocked out in the first round in
Penang and wanted badly to drown his sorrows. Well, I assure you,
he was far from sorrowful. He regaled us with tales of
his adventures and had us in stitches with his
impersonation of one of the best 9-Ball players of all
time, Earl Strickland, a Billiard Congress of America’s
Hall of Famer.
I said I
was surprised to see him knocked out so soon in the
tournament. He candidly replied, “I played like s—t.”
Taking
advantage of his verbose mood, I asked him why he
thought the Filipino players are not doing well on this
tour. They have not won a single trophy since last year.
Shaking his head, Pagulayan said the Filipinos don’t get
to play enough on this tour. It’s true. I keep seeing
different faces representing the Philippines over the
last few years.
He also
explained that the Filipinos don’t play well with short
races. They generally prefer longer racks, like a race
to 18 or 20. He felt that in longer races, the better
player prevails. They also don’t enjoy the
alternate-break format, which gives the lesser player a
chance to equalize the score.
He added
that most of them dislike the soft break, since it’s not
considered as a display of skill—in the frustrated words
of Strickland at a match years ago when his opponent was
using the soft break”—“he’s breaking like a girl.”
I knew
my investigation would be incomplete without the voice
of Chang Jung-Lin. He won the Penang trophy, and it’s
the third straight time he’s won on this tour, taking
home five out of the last eight titles.
Chang, a
self-professed pai kia (ruffian) in his younger
days, said he’s learned how to control his emotions, and
keep his temper in check; allowing him to play in a calm
and calculated manner. Hence, his nerves don’t affect
him when making crucial shots. As for why his
compatriots excel on this tour, he credited it to their
better control of emotions and nerves.
And
that’s pretty much the secret to winning sweeps. Come
May, you can be sure that the Taiwanese will once again
be in the running for another title at the next leg in
Genting Highlands, Malaysia.
Georgina Chang is the host presenter of the Guinness
9-Ball Tour on STAR Sports and the tennis magazine show
Ace, every Tuesday at 10 p.m. |
