Jose Parica

Jose Parica (born April 18, 1949)"2003 Player Profiles: Jose 'Amang' Parica"
, ''AZBilliards.com'', 2003; accessed February 10, 2007 is a Filipino professional pool player from Manila, nicknamed "''Amang''" ( Tagalog for "uncle") and "the Giant Killer." As a Filipino Hall of Famer, he pioneered the "Filipino invasion" in the United States in the late 70s, especially in the game of Nine-ball. Also known as "the King" and "the Legend" in the Philippines, Parica is well regarded by many players and peers as one of the greatest "money player" of all time. He became the Billiards Digest Player of the Year in 1997. He scored a perfect match with no mistakes in 9-ball race to 11 format in 1997 at the PBT Legends of Nine-ball.

Career

In 1976, Parica, hoping to get a better deal for Filipino billiard players, organized the Philippine Pocket Billiards Association and became its first president. The same year he competed in the All Japan Championship and finished second in the Rotation division to Tetsuro Kakuto. In 1978, he placed 9th in his first tournament in the United States, the World Straight Pool Championship which was won by Ray Martin. He was the first Filipino to travel to the United States. In 1979, Parica was the Philippine National 3-Cushion, Rotation, and Snooker Champion.

Filipino players Efren Reyes and Rodolfo Luat joined Parica in the mid 1980s in what was known as the "Filipino invasion". Parica competed under the Professional Billiards Association (PBA) for a few years, but did not win a major U.S. title until 1986, when he won the Clyde Childress Memorial 9-Ball Open, followed up with a victory in the Classic Cup V title.

Parica had won close to one hundred tournaments in the U.S., a dozen in Japan, and several titles in the Philippines. In 1988, Parica participated in the Japanese circuit, winning the All Japan Championship in 9-Ball. That same year in Japan, he won the World Pro 9-Ball Tournament, the largest tournament at the time, beating Efren Reyes 9–3 in the finals. The tournament had 900 players compete, which was a record number of participants in a tournament. Parica earned the first prize of $41.000, the biggest first prize money in a tournament at the time.

In 1994, Parica married his wife Aurora and became less active on the Professional Tour. In 1996, Parica resumed playing full time on the Tour winning four tournaments that year, Beating rival Efren Reyes three times in the finals. In 1997, Parica won five tournaments and was ranked number 1 in the professional tour rankings as well as winning the Camel tour overall bonus of $50K defeating Buddy Hall. He was chosen Player of the Year in 1997 by the Billiards Digest Magazine.

Allegations of crime

In the early 1990s, Parica attacked a man who he said was troubling his wife. The battered man had a different story, stating that Parica robbed him of his belongings. Parica was imprisoned for one day. After paying fines and testifying in court, Parica won the case and was released.

Hall of Fame

Many fans and pundits of the game believed that Parica should have been inducted in to the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame long before his induction. Due to this Parica played professionally in to his 60s, until he was finally inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2014, at the age of 65.

Career Titles & Achievements

References

External links

Industry profile of ParicaAnother industry profile of paricaAnother fansite profile of Parica

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parica, Jose
Filipino pool players
1949 births
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
People from La Puente, California