Anton Pabillore: He came, he saw, he conquered

FORMER UAAP standout Anthony Pabillore just unveiled his other sports talent aside from basketball.

With no one expecting him to deliver, the heavily-underdog Pabillore ruled the inaugural 10-ball billiard tourney organized by the Green CdeO Eagles Club’s so-called Handsome Riders in Cagayan de Oro City.

Held on Saturday at the place of Kuya Gerry Suyao in barangay Indahag, the Banco de Oro’s resident hoop star Pabillore strung up a spate of upset wins in the elimination round to reach the best-of-3 final.

Paired against the top-seeded Totsie Daitol who demolished his pre-final opponents in brilliant fashion, odds-makers had prematurely dismissed any chance of Pabillore to pull off a surprise especially after losing in the opener.

But Pabillore won the remainder of the match, as he survived a cliffhanger capped by a difficult take on the 10th ball in the deciding Game 3.

“Lisod kaayo ‘to nga pinahon kay nakasandig ang bola sa sentro sa bandahan ubos sa spatan pero wala ra nakadikit. Unsaon nakuha man gyod,” said Daitol, who narrowly missed a favorable three-ball clean up, that proved to be his undoing.

The feat had paved the way for Pabillore into pocketing the P2,600 pot money in the winner-take-all showdown.

“Wala gyo’y nag expect kay hustler si Kuya Totsie sa kalye-kalye nga harang halos pang Class A na iyang tirada,” said the first-round survivor Patrick Go.

“Dili na gyod matawag tsamba iyang pagdaug sa ako sa una kay siya man gyod ang ni-champion,” acknowledged Ed Gustilo, who is one of the early title favorites.

For Pabillore, who played backup pointguard to Johnny Abbarientos during their heydays with the FEU Tamaraws in UAAP basketball, he just came to play without any expectation. “Naka-tsamba lang maong dako akong pasalamat kay Kuya Suyao for hosting the event kay sa pagkaon lang daan daug na ang tanan nga nag-participate,” humbly said Pabillore.