Alex Pagulayan
Encyclopedia
Filipino Canadian
Filipino Canadians are Canadians of Filipino ancestry. Filipino-Canadians are the fourth-largest subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos.Canada only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. To date, there are currently around 400,000 Filipino Canadians in Canada, most of them...
professional pool (pocket billiards) and snooker player. His nicknames are "the Lion" and "the Killer Pixie". He was born in Cabagan
Cabagan, Isabela
Cabagan is a 1st class municipality in the province of Isabela. According to the latest census, it has a population of 43,562 people in 7,250 households....
, Isabela, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and was raised in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 2004, Pagulayan returned to the Philippines, and is a dual citizen of Canada and the Philippines.
He is known for his relaxed demeanor during competition, and is a crowd favorite, well liked because of his humorous interaction with the audience.
Early days
Pagulayan's parents emigrated to CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
when he was 13 years old. His father managed a pool hall, so Pagulayan was introduced to the game at an early age. Though he was also attracted to other sports, he thought his physique may have been unsuitable for them. He has said, "I like a lot of sports, but with pool, you don't have to be physically tough." His main training venue was Loma's pool hall.
Professional career
Pagulayan also has expertise in the pocket billiardsPocket billiards
Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...
game of snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
, and his capabilities helped his Philippines team to win the Snooker Gold Medal at the 2005 SEA Games (held in Manila, Philippines) with team-mates Joven Alba and Leonardo Andam. After the team's 3–2 win against Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
at the Makati Coliseum, Pagulayan emerged as a triple Gold Medalist.
Very skilled players in nine-ball have the tendency to sometimes pocket four or even five balls on the . Pagulayan in the first rack of the semi-finals in the 2004 BCA Open, sank six balls on the break — two-thirds of the entire rack. (But note that Rodolfo Luat
Rodolfo Luat
'Rodolfo Luat is a Filipino professional pool player from Angeles City Pampanga. He is one of the higher-ranking players of Team Philippines and he holds many Asian individual, world Champion and team titles. Luat turned professional at age 16. He has titles in the Asian Championships and the...
also performed a similar feat in a Japanese tournament.) Pagulayan's break did not include the 9 ball, and despite the six ball advantage, he lost that game (to fellow countryman Santos Sambajon
Santos Sambajon
Santos Sambajon is a Filipino professional pool player. His nicknames are "The Little Giant" and "The Saint." Originally from the Philippines, he now resides in the United States.-Professional career:...
).
In 2002, Pagulayan won through to the finals of the US Open Nine-ball Championship
US Open Nine-ball Championship
The U.S. Open Championships is an annual professional pool tournament that began in 1976 at Q-Master Billiards in Norfolk, Virginia. Today, it is held in the Chesapeake Conference Center, Chesapeake, Virginia...
, but was defeated by Ralf Souquet
Ralf Souquet
Ralf Souquet is a German professional pool player. His nicknames are "The Kaiser" and "The Surgeon." Since 1981, he has won more than 250 tournament titles, including 41 German Championship titles and 34 European Championship titles.He began playing billiards at the age of six in his parents'...
, 11–13. Three years later, he had another good run the US Open Nine-ball Championship
US Open Nine-ball Championship
The U.S. Open Championships is an annual professional pool tournament that began in 1976 at Q-Master Billiards in Norfolk, Virginia. Today, it is held in the Chesapeake Conference Center, Chesapeake, Virginia...
title and won it, defeating Jose Parica
Jose Parica
Jose Parica is a Filipino professional pool player from Manila, nicknamed "Amang" and "the Giant Killer." As a Philippine Hall of Famer, he pioneered the "Filipino invasion" in the United States, especially in the game of nine-ball.Also known as "the King" and "the Legend" in Philippine pool,...
in the finals, 11–6.
In 2003, Pagulayan went on the road in the United States with Canadian pool player Ronnie Wiseman to compete in pocket billiard tournaments. They scored a double victory at the Carolinas Open
Carolinas Open
The Carolinas Open is a golf tournament played in the Carolinas, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is run by the Carolinas section of the PGA of America...
at Fast Eddie's in Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 37,597 at the 2008 census estimate. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The nearby town of Waynesboro was founded in 1787 and Goldsboro was...
, with Wiseman winning the one-pocket tournament and Pagulayan winning the nine-ball event. Later in 2003, Pagulayan reached the finals of the World Nine-ball Championship but was beaten by Thorsten Hohmann 10-17.
In 2004 in Taipei, Taiwan, Pagulayan captured the prestigious World Pool Championship title while representing Canada. The score was a 17–13 victory over Pei-wei Chang in the final. This made him Canada's only world champion in the sport.
In 2006, Pagulayan won the first national championship of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of Philippines (BSCP), besting Gandy Valle in the final and earning P
Philippine peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
1,000,000 (US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
20,639).
Not many pool players in the Philippines excel at or even play straight pool
Straight Pool
Straight pool, also called 14.1 continuous or simply 14.1, is a pocket billiards game, and was the common sport of championship competition until overtaken by faster-playing games like nine-ball...
. For a number of years, Efren Reyes
Efren Reyes
Efren Manalang Reyes is a Filipino professional pool player and a two-time world champion. Reyes is considered by many to be the greatest all-around pool player in the history of the game. He is affectionately nicknamed "Bata" and "the Magician".-Early life:Reyes was born in Pampanga in 1954...
was the only Filipino player known to have made of 100 or more. However, at an demonstration match
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
at the 2006 Derby City Classic
Derby City Classic
The Derby City Classic is an annual pocket billiard convention held every January in Louisville, Kentucky. It is eight days long and offers various disciplines of pocket billiard competitions for pool players of all caliber. It is often referred to as the DCC.hui- History :The annual convention...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Pagulayan made a high run of 130, the second-highest of the event. This makes him the second Filipino player known to have run 100 balls in straight pool
Straight Pool
Straight pool, also called 14.1 continuous or simply 14.1, is a pocket billiards game, and was the common sport of championship competition until overtaken by faster-playing games like nine-ball...
in controlled competition.
In 2007, Pagulayan won the World Summit of Pool nine-ball championship held at the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. American Shane Van Boening defeated Pagulayan earlier in the event, 11–4, but the veteran Pagulayan came back from the losing bracket of the double-elimination tournament
Double-elimination tournament
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two games or matches...
chart by beating fellow countrymen Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pocket billiards player from Tarlac, and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion., nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States.-Early life:Bustamante is the...
and Warren Kiamco
Warren Kiamco
Warren Kiamco is a Filipino professional pool player from Cebu, Philippines. He is known for his performances in the South East Asian and Asian Games....
, only to face Van Boening in the final round. The semi-finals as well as the final matches were recorded by ESPN for future broadcast, and the final match between Pagulayan and Van Boening was a race to 7. Pagulayan shot out with a strong lead, 4–1, but Van Boening managed to tie the score at 5–5. However, after Pagulayan him, resulting in a loss of game for Van Boening, Pagulayan advanced and captured the title in the final game, ending the match at 7–5.
On May 11, 2008, Pagulayan defeated Mika Immonen
Mika Immonen
Mika Immonen is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball ChampionshipHe has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the...
in the Matchroom Sports production of the World Pool Masters in a thrilling final match held at the Rivera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. In the race to 8, Immonen maintained a strong lead against Pagulayan with a score of 6 to 3, but due to an illegal break when he failed to send the required number of balls past the headstring, Pagulayan took advantage of this error by winning the next three games in a row, with the eventual title going to Pagulayan. "I feel like I did when I won the World Championship," said Pagulayan flexing his biceps
Biceps
Biceps may refer to:*Biceps brachii muscle, a muscle located on the inside of the upper arm*Biceps femoris muscle, one of the hamstring muscles of the back of each thigh*Biceps , a point in a metrical pattern...
and performing a running man dance
The Running Man (dance)
The Running Man is a street and fad dance that originated in late 1986 early 1987 and was performed most notably by MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice during their live concert shows and music videos, but achieved renewed popularity in the 2000s. It is also used in some forms of the Melbourne Shuffle dance...
for the cameras directly after sinking the 9 ball for the match win. "I think I’ve finished in every place here except first," he said. Pagulayan was a finalist in the 2006 World Pool Masters, but lost to German Ralf Souquet
Ralf Souquet
Ralf Souquet is a German professional pool player. His nicknames are "The Kaiser" and "The Surgeon." Since 1981, he has won more than 250 tournament titles, including 41 German Championship titles and 34 European Championship titles.He began playing billiards at the age of six in his parents'...
.
"The Lion" Pagulayan beat Joven Bustamante on June 15, 2008 to win the P 300,000-Magnificent 7 Winner-Take-All 9-Ball Invitational second qualifier in Mandaue City
Mandaue City
The City of Mandaue is a city in the province of Cebu in the Philippines. It is one of the three urbanized cities in the island and forms a part of the Cebu Metropolitan area. Mandaue City is located on the middle eastern coastal region of Cebu, bordering to its right-side are Mactan Island where...
, Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
for the December grand final. He was set for the June, 2nd leg of the Sen. Manuel Villar Cup in Cebu City.
Alex Pagulayan, 30, received the $ 15,000 check, as he defeated Dennis Orcollo, 11-6, to win the 4th leg of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour at the Velocity at Novena Square, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Pagulayan beat the 2005 world title winner, Wu Chia Ching, 9-6, while Orcollo defeated Yang Ching-Shun, 9-8. Orcollo settled for the runner-up purse of $ 6,000.
In 2011, Alex Pagulayan defeated Floyd Ziegler 6-0 to win the final of the 2011 Canadian Snooker Championships, in his return to competitive snooker.
Lawsuit
Pagulayan filed a libel and P 6 million damages action with Pasig Regional Trial Court's Second Assistant City Prosecutor Maria Anunciacion Hipol, on July 14, 2008. He sued Yen Makabenta and Ernesto Fajardo, the officials of the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) who had accused him of "sharking" (distracting his opponent to win, at the Singapore leg Guinness 9-Ball Tour), in addition to being a "disgraceful loser" and a "liar".Personal life
Despite his 2004 relocation to the Philippines, Pagulayan still officially has a mailing address in Canada. In March 2007, when asked where he resides in a Pool Billiards News interview, Pagulayan jokingly replied, "My suitcaseSuitcase
A suitcase is a general term for a distinguishable form of luggage. It is often a somewhat flat, rectangular-shaped bag with rounded/square corners, either metal, hard plastic or made of cloth, vinyl or leather that more or less keeps its shape. It has a carrying handle on one side and is used...
. Yes. That's where I live right now – out of my suitcase."
Aside from pool
Pocket billiards
Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...
, Alex also plays poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and is friends with poker star Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...
. He is a big fan of the band Texas
Texas (band)
Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...
.
Achievements
- 2011 Canadian Snooker Championships champion
- 2008 World Pool Masters, Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
- 2007 World Summit of Pool
- 2006 Philippine National Championship
- 2005 Philippines Snooker Team Gold Medal, SEA Games
- 2005 US Open Nine-ball Championship
- 2005 Derby City Classic Ten-ball Ring Game Champion
- 2005 SML Entertainment Nine-ball Champion
- 2004 WPA World Nine-ball ChampionshipWPA World Nine-ball ChampionshipThe WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual, international, professional nine-ball pool tournament, founded in 1990, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association , and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport...
- 2003 Joss Tour Grand Final Winner
- 2003 Carolinas Open Nine-ball Division, Goldsboro, North CarolinaGoldsboro, North CarolinaGoldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 37,597 at the 2008 census estimate. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The nearby town of Waynesboro was founded in 1787 and Goldsboro was...
- 2003 IBC Western Canadian Open
- 2002 World Pool Trickshot Champion
External links
- WorldPoolMasters Biography
- Snooker Gold Medal
- Pagulayan champ
- Alex Pagulayan Profile
- Lion Bared
- Alex Pagulayan interview on Xtrem Pressbox