ouch.

how cruel can a sport be?

yesterday, we were glued to our tv as we watched and cheered on our fellow filipino, roberto gomez, in the finals of the 2007 world pool championships. our country has been known for producing champions in the past and it was like another one was in the making.

this particular finals match was truly nerve-wracking. i have watched sports plenty of times but this one ranks way up there when it comes to sheer suspense and drama. starting from rack 23 (with the score 12-11 in favor of daryl peach), each rack was tightly contested. except for a couple runouts by peach, each player would have an opportunity to go to the table to play a shot. that is unusual in a finals match. more so, in a winner’s break format. their top-notch skills was showcased during safety play exchanges as both players would amazingly escape each trapped situation time after time. on the other hand, the pressure was too intense that both players would in turn uncharacteristically miss makeable shots.

the critical rack was the 31st rack with the match tied at 15 apiece (this was a race to 17, btw). peach was breaking and had momentum with a 3-rack win streak. after making the 1 ball at the break, he was left with a cross-table bank shot for the 2 ball which he missed. this seemingly gave gomez the chance to clear the table but he blew making the 5-ball (never nakuha ni gomez ang pulso nya buong match kaya bawat long shot nya was really suspense-filled). peach then apparently was about to runout the table but he overshot the position for the 8-ball which led to a disastrous position on the 9-ball. again, peach was left with a cross-table bank shot for the 9… which he missed. the crowd grew wild (kasama na ako dun 😆) as gomez was given another chance. pero hindi madali ang tira contrary to what reports would say. the pressure was just too much as gomez missed the 9… and consequently the rack. afterwards, he’d never get a chance to get to the table again.

it was so painful to see the pendulum quickly swing from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat on that shot on the 9-ball. i really feel bad for gomez and could feel the pain due to the lost opportunity (yah, ramdam ko talaga. tanong nyo pa selle. 😀). but after all the emotions have died down (sabi ko naman sa inyo affected ako, eh. 😆), sabi ko nga kay selle, it just wasn’t meant to be. i felt like God had to make that happen because, maybe, He had greater things in store for gomez. maybe, gomez needed more toughening up for future events. who knows? but definitely there’s a reason.



gomez has nothing to be ashamed of but everything to be proud of. sa lahat ng magagaling na players sa pinas, sya lang ang natira. also, he became the first unseeded player to reach the finals. and with that, we congratulate you, roberto gomez. you made us proud. 🙂

staying on the world pool championships, i saw a headline on the newspaper yesterday regarding a controversial foul shot being called on django bustamante causing him to be eliminated. intrigued since we never saw that match, i googled it on the web and got this video.



foul or no foul? man, this is tough.

on first glance of the replay, it does look like the cue ball touched the 9-ball first. but, after numerous camera angles were shown, it’s not a certainty anymore. ang dami kasing factors eh. it would’ve been more conclusive if they zoomed in on the overhead shot but they didn’t. the statement of the commentators arguing that, “the 9-ball moved first…” is inconclusive because the 3-ball was just nicked while the 9-ball was hit head on therefore the 9-ball will apparently move first. zooming in to see the slightest movement would’ve answered the question. if this was the nfl, that wouldn’t be ruled a foul because, in the nfl, for a rule to be overturned using replay footages there must be conclusive evidence. unfortunately, this wasn’t the nfl.

anyway, another tough one for django especially since he was leading 10-9 and he would’ve won the match on that 9-ball.

ouch.