World Pool Ranking Points and U.S. $250,000 in Prize Money Up for Grabs at the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour 2003, Which Kicks off in Singapore in March

Asia's number o­ne sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has announced the launch of the inaugural San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour 2003, beginning in Singapore o­n March 15-16 and traveling to Ho Chi Minh April 12-13, Hong Kong May 3-4, Taipei May 24-25, and Manila June 21-22 to determine who are Asia's best pool players.

Organized by ESS's Event Managament Group, the tour will feature Asia's top players and will have U.S. $50,000 prize money per leg.  The top ten finishers o­n the tour will receive entry into the World Professional Pool Championships, which take place this year in Cardiff, UK, in July.  The San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour is the o­nly pool competition in Asia that allows players to garner points to qualify for the World Pool Championships, which is anticipated by many to make Asia its venue in 2004.  The tour will also form the basis for the annual ranking of the top players in Asia.

On the broadcasting front, the five stops of the tour will be televised o­n STAR Sports, culminating with the exclusive pan-Asian television broadcast of the World Professional Pool Championships o­n the same channel.  STAR Sports viewers can watch seven hours of world-class pool coverage from each leg.

Mr. Richard Young, vice president of EMG and Programme Development, said, "The San Miguel 9-Ball Tour combines our expertise in organizing events with our strength as the leading regional sports broadcaster.  Nine-ball is a sport where Asians compete at the highest levels in the world, producing more world champions over the past few years than any other region.  All of these - Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Chao Fong-Pang, and others - will be playing o­n the San Miguel Asian Nine-Ball Tour.  Finally, Asia has a tour to show the world its strength in this sport.  We're privileged to have San Miguel Beer as the title sponsor, and we're confident our partnership o­n this project will be worthwhile for both parties."

Mr. Erick Bartolome, group brand manager of San Miguel, said, "San Miguel is pleased to partner with ESPN STar Sports as a sign of our commitment both to customers o­n the ground, as well as viewers across the regin through the San Miguel Asian Nine-Ball Tour.  Billiards is o­ne of the key sports San Miguel strongly supports and moreover, with ESPN and San Miguel initiating the advent of an Asian Nine-Ball Tour, we share similar plans in developing billiards within the Asia-Pacific region.  Furthermore, this sponsorship showcases the two strengths of Asia:  a synergy between a world-class beer and an international sport dominated by Asian players."

Pool enjoys a huge audience in Asia that continues to grow.  An estimated 36.6 milliion cable viewers were able to view last year's World Professional Pool Championships (WPPC) o­n STAR Sports.  In the metered markets of India, Taiwan, and Singapore, the event attracted 18.2 million cable viewers.  In Singapore alone, viewership of WPPC increased 41% in 2002, as compared to the year before.  (Sources:  TAM Media Xpress India, Nielsen Taiwan Telescope, TN Sofres Infosys Singapore, July-August 2002)

Before the San Miguel 9-Ball Tour, ESS was the host broadcaster of the inaugural Asian 8-Ball Championships in Singapore last September 2002, which attracted 167 entries from nine Asian countries.

The ESS Event Management Group specializes in creating, managing, promoting, consulting, producing, and syndicating world-class sporting events throughout Asia.  The group has been awarded numerous awards, among them Best Promoted Event in 1998 and 1999, awarded by the ATP; Best Sporting Event in Hong Kong in 1998 and 1999, awarded by the Hong Kong Sports Development Board; and Best Event Organizer in 2000, awarded by the Singapore Tourism Board.  The group has managed over 100 events in 11 countries.