MARLON MANALO - PHILIPPINES

Age - 29
Based - Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Nickname - Marvellous
Hobbies - Swimming, Strolling
Cue Used - Predator
Achievements - 2005 World Pool Championship Bronze Medallist. 2005 Reno Open Champion. 2000 Asian Snooker Champion. 2001 Silver Medallist World Games, Akita. 2 silver medals at 2004 Asian Games in Vietnam. Quarter finalist at 2004 World Pool Championship.

The unassuming Manalo was definitely the surprise package of the 2004 WPC as he came from nowhere to beat Yang, Bustamante and Reyes in successive matches before going out in the last eight to Marcus Chamat.

Since then ‘Marvellous’ has developed in quick time into one of the toughest players in the world. A semi-final appearance in this summer’s World Pool Championship was proof of the pudding and his run in Kaohsiung included successive white-washes; 10-0 and 11-0 against Huang and Chen respectively.

Silky smooth in stroke, Manalo took his game on the road in the US earlier in the year and took top spot at the Reno Open, with its massive field of high-quality player.

The writing was on the wall at the 2003 WPC when Marlon won all seven of his group games before losing to Young-hwa Jeong, the classy Korean, in the last 32.

Manalo started out as predominantly a snooker player and in a country with just a few tables, Manalo has recorded green baize wins over the likes of Matthew Stevens and Shokat Ali.