Sharks Billiards Association (SBA) C'ship... LONG AWAITED 1ST SEASON TO GET UNDERWAY ON SEPT. 18 IN QUEZON CITY

THE much anticipated Sharks Billiards Association (SBA) inaugural season will kick-off on September 18 in the state-of-the-art billiards hub at Sharks Arena & Sportsbar in 234 Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City. The league, organized by SBA founder Hadley Mariano and sanctioned by the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) will run until December.

The Philippines' finest professional pool sharks afficionados will dazzle audiences and show their wares this September ' in their respective teams in quest for glory to reign supreme in the land of Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante in the initial offering among best of the best in the league.

The Season 1 of the newly formed pro-billiards league in the country is sure to attract pool enthusiasts both at home and abroad. Quezon City Dragons and Taguig Stallions will square off in their historic game opener where classic duel between Dragons' no. 1 pick overall Jericho Bañares fitted against Taguig's top pick Rodrigo Geronimo at the main table of the battle of pool sharks from Sept.18 to Sept.25.

Week 1’s matchup will pit the QC Dragons' fiery five of Jerico Banares, John Rebong, Deanmark Castronuevo, Alexis Ferrer and John Paul Ladao.They will try to surge against the formidable Taguig Stallions of Rodrigo Geronimo, Demosthenes Pulpul, Bryant Saguiped, Mark Ejay Cunanan and Michael Quinay.

Game 2’s matchup is set to take place September 25-29, that will see the 1st pro 9- Ball billiards league between protagonists Oliver Villafuerte and his Negros Occidental Pillars square off against and Baseth Mocaibat and his Manila MSW Mavericks will wrap off on September 25 - September 29 where Albert Espinola will lead the assault against formidable Jonas Magpantay - led Mavericks of team Manila.

Game 3 is set October 2 - October 6 while Game 4 will be contested on Oct. 9 - Oct. 13.

The league organized by SBA founder Hadley Mariano and sanctioned by Games and Amusement Board (GAB) will run until December. Top finishers in team 1 and 2 will will outdo each other for the crown on Dec. 18-22.

In addition to Villafuerte, the Pillars of Visayas also banner Albert Espinola, Jonald Calve, Jolo Aspuria and Mark Ryan Hidalgo while Mocaibat-led Mavericks team will be bolstered by frontliners Jonas Magpantay, John Albert Refulle, Drahcir Mauricio, and Tristan Deocarieza are aiming to make history for their team Manila MSW.

Meanwhile, the Sharks' first season format will be nine ball, SBA the league has implemented few changes to add some extra dimensions to the game also changed a couple of rules to make it more interesting, namely:

Loser of the lag nominates a player first for the match. This allows the lag winner to strategize and pick which team member matches up best against his opponent, while also getting to break first. The Lag-Before a match, each coach selects a player to shoot the lag.The team that loses the lag nominates the player first, which gives an advantage to the winning team in nominating a player last and gets the first break.

Nine ball on the spot-Winners break with a triangular rack forming a diamond shape. The cue ball can be positioned anywhere behind the headstring.

Sharking, the act of deliberately trying to distract your opponent will be allowed. This includes witty banter and of course, friendly trash talking. However, once a player is in his shooting stance, sharking must stop-The opposing team may shark or trash-talk between shots.But doing so while the shooter is in stance results in a foul and ball in hand offensive topics are banned. These rules also apply to player- audience interactions.

Shot clock-After the break, each player will have 40 seconds before his next shot, thereafter, each player will have 30 seconds in between shots. Each shooter shall have one 15 seconds extension per rack.

Lastly, there will be no jump cues or and cue extensions will not be allowed. Meaning, the fans we will get to see more magical and artistic shots during game play; , something we which Pinoys are known for during the season throughout the sport.

So get ready for an exciting display of Filipino-style billiards as SBA aims to bring the glory days of billiards back to the Philippines. Who knows? The next Bata or Django could be developing right before our eyes.