We take exception to Manolo Iñigo’s Sept. 22 column, which sought to portray in a dim light the inaugural World Ten Ball Championship that is set to start on Monday, Sept. 29, in Manila.

Iñigo tries to make a big issue of the fact that a breakaway group from the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) has apparently chosen to skip the tournament. He inflates the importance of the group’s players, while ignoring the many Filipino players who are competing in the tournament—among them, the reigning 2008 national champion, the reigning San Miguel Philippine Open champion, the reigning Manny Pacquiao International champion, the 2008 Philippine junior champion, and the reigning Asian Games pool gold medalist. He celebrates the fading players and refuses to acknowledge the titlists and the rising ones.

This kind of twisted journalism from Iñigo no longer surprises us. From the time we got involved in pool events management and promotions, he hasn’t had one good word to say about the BSCP, Raya and the events and program that we have pursued. He has devoted his praises entirely to Aristeo Puyat and this is astonishing since the guy has not mounted a single tournament since 2005, let alone an international event.

While not pining for Iñigo’s praise, we demand our right to reply to the patently misinformed opinions and falsehoods in his column.

First, he does not bother to fact-check his opinions and observations; he relies solely on the self-serving claims of others. He does not talk to players, he only relays what their 40-percent managers say or claim on their behalf.

Second, in nearly three years, from 2006 to 2008, we have yet to see Iñigo cover one of the over 10 tournaments and events that BSCP and Raya have mounted. How then can he sit in judgment over our management of the sport?

Third, contrary to Iñigo’s allegation, Raya has nothing to account for before the breakaway group in regard to Pagcor’s sponsorship of the 2006 and 2007 World Pool Championship. That sponsorship was fully delivered to the company, the government and our country by the media values fully covered by certificates of performance, goodwill and global exposure provided by the two events. The fact that the Philippines earned the title “epicenter of international pool” from Billiards Digest is testimony to this. So is the SWS survey finding that the BSCP is the third most popular national sports association (out of 38) in the country.

It is particularly iniquitous that while Iñigo strains to shoot down the World Ten Ball Championship as it is about to take place, he conveniently overlooks the fact that Puyat and his breakaway group have failed with their own world championship event, about which they boasted publicly and with much fanfare.

So much for Iñigo’s cockeyed journalism.

JP FENIX, managing director, Raya Sports