Eight of the top ranked talents in women’s billiards team up for the second installment of the Queen’s Cup. This is the standing rivalry between the top Asian cue artists and their American and European counterparts in a tournament format, similar to the Ryder Cup in golf or Davis Cup in tennis.
The four-woman West Team is composed of USA’s Jennifer Barretta and Vivian Villareal, Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famers, Ewa Laurance (Sweden), and Karen Corr (Northern Ireland). The East Team, on the other hand, is comprised of our very own world champion, Rubilen Amit, Eunji Park (South Korea), Jennifer Chen (Taiwan), and, former world number 1, Siming Chen (China).
Resorts World Manila will once again host the the Queen’s Cup. “Resorts World Manila is once again thrilled to host this year’s Queen’s Cup. With a collection of talents this rich, this is arguably the country’s biggest women’s sporting event of the year,’ says RWM’s director for Special Events and Promotions Francis Bennevie. “It is our pleasure to host these lady professionals from around the world, and to showcase their talents within the first class facilities of our property,” he adds.
“We love billiards, and we love the women’s players. The Queen’s Cup was really successful the last time, the fans loved it, and the players loved it as well. We had no reason but to do it, and we have a good partner in Resorts World Manila,” Charlie Williams, the Executive Producer of the Queen’s Cup, told us.
When asked if their production company would want to add more billiards events here in the Philippines, Williams told us that their cooking up another tournament that, hopefully, will happen by the end of the year. “We have another idea that is currently top secret right now. Maybe we’ll do it later this fall. I can’t tell you what it is yet until our partners confirm.”
Finally, we asked Williams if he was surprised by how the Philippines accepted billiards as a sport. “The Philippines is definitely one of the biggest markets in pool. It gets a lot of support from the media. Maybe because the country is more serious in treating it as a sport. The attitude of the country makes a huge difference. If you go to a country that does not treat it as a sport, it makes a domino effect with the product.”
“I think billiards is unique. With the exception of Manny Pacquiao, billiards is where you are most successful at. Rubilen Amit, for example, she has won five gold medals in the SEA games and two world championships. How many Filipinos has won seven international gold medals? We would like to see more players like Rubilen or Dennis Orcullo get more accolades and support. We think billiards will always be here and we’ll continue to support the sport and the athletes,” Williams concluded.
Day 1 of the Queen’s Cup starts tomorrow at Resorts World Manila.
The schedule for tomorrow:
First Match: Four on Four
Team East: Rubilen Amit, Eunji Park, Jennifer Chen, and Siming Chen
Vs.
Team West: Karen Corr, Ewa Laurance, Jennifer Barretta and Vivian Villareal
Second Match: Doubles
Team East: Jennifer Chen, and Siming Chen
Vs.
Team West: Karen Corr, and Jennifer Barretta
Third Match: Doubles
Team East: Rubilen Amit, and Eunji Park
Vs.
Team West: Ewa Laurance, and Vivian Villareal
Fourth Match: Singles
Team East: Rubilen Amit
Vs.
Team West: Karen Corr
Fifth Match: Singles
Team East: Eunji Park
Vs.
Team West: Vivian Villareal
Sixth Match: Triples
Team East: Rubilen Amit, Eunji Park, and Siming Chen
Vs.
Team West: Karen Corr, Ewa Laurance, and Jennifer Barretta
*All matches are race to four
**First team to ten matches wins
