Is Marlon Manalo a bonafide superstar?

jsp

jsp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes.

It's funny how few of us have heard of the name Marlon Manalo before the IPT KOTH tournament began. Though he placed first in the Reno Open, first in the Hard Times, first in the New Jersey Straight Pool Championships, and third in the WPC World Championships all THIS YEAR alone, he was still regarded as a relative unkown. (Many people in this forum didn't even pick him to finish top three in his group for the KOTH's first round.)

Then he pulled off an unprecedented string of 17 straight 8ball matches in IPT's King of the Hill tournament, only to come up short at the end losing to Busta and Efren. (BTW, Manalo's opponents of his 17 consecutive wins did not consist of exactly no-namers, but was comprised of pool CHAMPIONS of the past and present.) If that's not enough to cement his superstardom, he then wins $100k in last week's Texas Hold'em Billiards Invitational. Aside from the IPT's recent events, Manalo's first place prize money in the Hold'em tournament was the largest sum of money won in a single pool event in several years. It's just unfortunate that this win comes so close to KOTH; his achievement is not only overshadowed by Efren's bigger paycheck ($200k), but also by his own KOTH performance of his undefeated run.

Not many have risen the ranks to pool superstardom in such a fast period of time. Hohmann has experienced a similar rise a couple of years ago, and I believe Manalo is every bit as good, if not BETTER, than Hohmann. And when I say "superstar", I'm lifting Manalo to the ranks of Efren, Archer, Busta, Alex, Souquet...etc. I feel that people don't give him the respect that he deserves. Manalo IS a superstar, and his performances this year only strengthen his case. I don't see him slowing down in the years to come.
 
I think most people here at AZB had heard of Marlon before the KOTH. If not they were living under a rock somewhere in the desert and not paying any attention to professional pool at all.
 
Celtic said:
I think most people here at AZB had heard of Marlon before the KOTH. If not they were living under a rock somewhere in the desert and not paying any attention to professional pool at all.
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As a rock dweller I object to your characterization. :p
 
Crispy Fish said:
As a rock dweller I object to your characterization. :p
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I apologize. Some people do indeed live under rocks not located in the desert. My bad. :(
 
Yes, Marlon looks like he's ready to win something big in our sport. The wait probably won't be long.

Relatively unknown? Please. His back-to-back 10 - 0 wins followed by an 11 - 9 win over Immonen in the knockout stages of the 2005 WPC made him a very big name in our sport.
 
Here's a good story about him. My friend out here is a Filipino who is close friends with Marlon .

When Marlon won the straight pool tournament in New Jersey a few months ago, I mentioned it to my friend that Marlon must play straight pool very well. I noticed that someone said he has a very "unconventional" straight pool game.

My friend replies * imagine Filipino accent*

"he don't even play dat game, he's just a real good pool shooter, dat is all!"

I laughed my butt off.

Chris
 
TATE said:
Here's a good story about him. I noticed that someone said he has a very "unconventional" straight pool game.


I laughed my butt off.

Chris
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someone had posted that danny barouty said manolo changed his perception of the game. the issue was brought up thereafter to explain.no answer was given, either by barouty(who doesn't post here anyway) nor by lipsky, who was there.

i'll be willing to bet if i ask barouty, i get no answer:):):)
 
Let's not forget that his back-to-back 10-0, 11-0 wins in the last WPC were against Taiwanese players, and that was in the last-32 and last-16. The feat was unprecedented in WPC history.

Last year he also did a magnificent run at the WPC, eliminating Reyes, Bustamante and Yang in succession in the knockout stages!


sjm said:
Yes, Marlon looks like he's ready to win something big in our sport. The wait probably won't be long.

Relatively unknown? Please. His back-to-back 10 - 0 wins followed by an 11 - 9 win over Immonen in the knockout stages of the 2005 WPC made him a very big name in our sport.
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Only time will tell if he will become a true star with staying power but he's been playing as well as anyone this last year.

How about a match between him and Wu? That would be the kind of match-up of new talents playing lights-out I'd like to see.
 
He's already a superstar in my book. Unless we define superstardom as winning one of the majors, which in that case would leave Bustamante out.
 
I first saw Marlon Manalo play in an IBC qualifying event right around 3 years ago. I was very impressed by his play, and thought that he would be a top pro soon.

I saw in him then a discipline in his game that I didn't see in the other pros here in the Philippines, certainly not among the ones he played against in that event. He is very professional about pool, and treats it like a job. At least IMO.

His dedication to improve and work ethic are impressive as well. A friend of mine who was at the WPC this year told me a story that just tells you how dedicated this guy is. IIRC, practice tables open as early as 8 am in the 05 WPC. This friend of mine, knowing that a lot of the pros would have been out late the night before playing and whatnot, tried to get a few games in by coming in at around 10 am. On his way in, he meets Marlon already on his way out, already finished with his practice session.

I'm not at all surprised by his success. I think he'll win a World Championship soon. Anything less would be a disappointment.
 
bud green said:
How about a match between him and Wu? That would be the kind of match-up of new talents playing lights-out I'd like to see.
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Actually, Wu and Manalo played twice fairly recently. In the WPC 9ball, and Wu beat Manalo in the semi-finals 11-5. In last month's Green Time Super Cup in Taiwan, Manalo beat Wu 7-1 in the opening rounds.

Wu is another player that has recently enjoyed the rapid rise to stardom in the pool world, by winning both WPC 9ball and 8ball competitions this year. However, although I regard him a "star", I hesitate to elevate him to "superstardom" only because they were only two wins (although two VERY significant wins at that). However, i'm sure in a year or two he will prove to the world that this year is no fluke, and that he will eventually rise to superstar status in the near future.
 
It was no secret Manalo was gonna be one of the premier young players of the game, he proved that at the 2004 WPC earning the nickname "giant killer"
Even back then I wouldn't call him an unknown player, just underrated.
 
sniper said:
Even back then I wouldn't call him an unknown player, just underrated.
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You're right...that's what I was aiming at, but I guess my post came off sounding too literal.
 
jsp said:
You're right...that's what I was aiming at, but I guess my post came off sounding too literal.
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I watched him beat Hopkins at the NJ Straight Pool tournament. He's the kind of guy that just makes it look easy ... also shoots very fast. Funniest part was when they met at the table & shook hands, Hopkins clearly didn't know who he was. I bet he knows who he is now ...

JS
 
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