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Saipan beats Guam in friendly billiards
Team Saipan bested visiting Guam, 11-8, in last Saturday’s Marianas Shoot To Thrill Saipan vs Guam 8-Ball Pool Tournament held at the Abyss Restaurant in Garapan.
Team Guam captain and billiards league secretary Ernie Cid, left, joins his teammates and Saipan counterpart Warlee Ellama, right, for a group photo during last Sunday’s awards banquet of the Budweiser-Saipan Billiards Association Winter/Spring season. (Jon Perez)
All 19 Singles 8-Ball matches played in the race-to-11 contest were close as Guam showed that the host team’s roster did not intimidate them.
Both teams experienced bad breaks and missed shots but all the players tested their talents in playing safety if there’s no open shot.
The 5-on-5, one-day tournament—which followed an alternate break format—featured the most valuable players from the respective billiards leagues in Guam and on Saipan.
Team Saipan actually started on the wrong foot after Jerry Soriano lost to Frank Purtusack in the opening Singles match.
Nolan Cultura and Rolly Villanueva gave the hosts a 2-1 lead when they scored consecutive wins over Mike Mahilum and Ernie Cid. Marvin Olamit tied the count after beating Patrick Cepeda.
Manny Mariano kicked off a three-game win streak by the hosts to enjoy a 5-2 breathing room. He defeated Francis Tenorio while Soriano and Cultura clinched two more wins against Portusack and Olamit.
Mahilum kept Guam within striking distance after besting Villanueva, 5-3. But Tenorio and Cid dropped close matches against Cepeda and Mariano for a 7-3 count.
Guam won five of the next eight matches to keep their hopes alive with Tenorio, Purtusack, Mahilum, and Olamit emerging victorious in their respective matchups against Soriano, Villanueva, and Cepeda.
Team Saipan, however, was still up 10-8 with the pressure of clinching the win falling on the hands of Cepeda against Tenorio.
Cepeda, the Budweiser-Saipan Billiards Association Thursday Open 8-ball League finals MVP, did not disappoint the home team and defeated Tenorio to seal Saipan’s victory.
Cepeda played calm under pressure despite Tenorio’s repeated attempts to turn things to his favor and allow Guam to tie the match and force a deciding Singles match.
Mahilum, Olamit, and Portusack are three of Guam’s top billiards players in their own league.
Team Guam also attended last Sunday’s awards banquet of the Budweiser-SBA Winter/Spring 2015 season.
