Jose Parica

{{Infobox pool player | name = Jose Parica | honorific_suffix = | image = Jose Parica Smiling.JPG | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = (1949-04-18) 18 April 1949 | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | sport country = Philippines | nickname = "Amang" | professional = 1973 | game = | best finish = | major wins = | minor wins = | other wins = 100 | world champ = Nine-Ball (1986, 1988) | website = | medals =

Jose Parica (born April 18, 1949) is a Filipino professional pool player from Manila, nicknamed "Amang" (Tagalog for "uncle") and "the Giant Killer." As a Filipino Hall of Famer, he was a part of the "Filipino invasion" in the United States in the late 70s, especially in the game of Nine-ball and One-pocket. 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 players" of all time. He became the Billiards Digest Player of the Year in 1997. He is the only player to shoot a perfect match in Nine-ball race to 11 format in 1997 at the PBT Legends of Nine-ball, a feat to this day that has not been achieved in any pool tournament since.

Career

At age 25, Parica won fourth place in the Tokyo International Open. In 1976, Parica organized the Philippine Pocket Billiards Association and he became its first president. In 1978, he tied for 9th to 12th place in his first tournament in the United States, the World Straight Pool Championship which was won by Ray Martin. He was the only Filipino in the tournament. In 1979, Parica was the Philippine's National 3-Cushion Champion, Rotation Champion, and Snooker Champion.

Parica competed under the Men’s Professional Billiards Association for years, but did not win a U.S. title until 1986, when he won the Clyde Childress World 9-Ball Open. He followed it up with a victory in the Classic Cup V title in Aurora, Illinois.

Filipino players Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante joined Parica in the "Filipino invasion" in the early 1990s.

Parica had won close to one hundred tournaments in the U.S., thirteen in Japan, and several titles in the Philippines (the 1980, 1989 and 1992 Philippine Nine-ball Open Championships). In 1988, Parica participated in the Japanese circuit, winning eight of the nine tournaments he competed in, and placing 2nd in the other. That same year, he won the World Pro Tournament, the largest tournament at the time, beating arch-rival Reyes 9–3 in the finals. The tournament was played in Tokyo and had 900 players compete, which is still a record number of participants in a tournament. Parica earned the first prize of $41.000, the biggest first prize money in history at the time. Parica won three more tournaments in 1989.

In 1994, Parica married Aurora and retired from active competition. In late 1996, Parica resumed playing in the U.S. circuit. He lost twice to Reyes that year, and also lost to American Johnny Archer, who won Billiards Digest's Player of the Year in 1996. Parica won four tournaments that year, against Reyes's three times. In 1997, Parica beat world number 2 Efren Reyes six times in a row, and world number 1 Johnny Archer seven times. Parica won five tournaments that year and was ranked 1st in the world ratings. Parica won the Camel tour overall bonus of $50K. He was chosen Player of the Year in 1997 by three award-giving bodies — Billiards magazine, Billiards Digest magazine, and the Camel Pro Billiards Series.

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

After Efren Reyes won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and several WPA World Eight-ball Championships, Reyes was inducted in to the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2003. This appeared to be to Parica's dismay due to parica feeling his great achievements in his career have been forgotten because of Reyes's Success. He also believed that he should have been in the hall of fame before Reyes. Due to this Parica played professionally in to his 60s, until he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2014, at the age of 65.

Titles

2014 Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame 2011 Empire State Championship 2011 Arizona State One Pocket 2011 Chuck Markulis Memorial One Pocket 2010 Jay Swanson Memorial 9-Ball 2009 One Pocket Hall of Fame 2009 National Championship Series 10-Ball 2008 Joss Northeast Tour 2007 Blaze 9-Ball Tour 2008 Southern California 14.1 Tournament 2006 Pechauer West Coast Tour 2004 Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour 2003 Great Seminole Senior Open 2003 Pechauer Nine-ball West Coast Tour 2003 Derby City Classic One-pocket Division 2002 Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour. 2002 Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour 2002 Derby City Classic Master of the Table 2002 Capital City Classic One-pocket 2002 Hard Times Summer Jamboree, One-pocket Division 2001 Joss Northeast Tour (Stop 10) 2001 Derby City Classic Banks Division 2000 Hard Times Winter Jamboree, Nine-ball Division 2001 Joss Northeast Tour (Stop 11) 1998 Andy Mercer Memorial Nine-ball Classic 1997 Billiards Digest Player of the Year 1997 Camel Overall Winner 1997 PBT Legends of Nine-ball 1997 Camel Boston Open 1997 Camel South Jersey Open 1997 PCA One Pocket Open 1997 PCA Sharky's Challenge 1996 PBT Darafeev Pro Nine-ball Classic 1996 Lion's Den Tournament 1996 PCA Shooter's 9-Ball Open 1995 U.S. Open One Pocket Championship 1995 Gomez Challenge 9-Ball

1995 US Bar Table Championship One Pocket 1995 Roanoke One Pocket 1995 On Cue Billiards Tournament 1994 Tommy's Billiards Tournament 1993 South Philly Billiards One Pocket 1993 PBT World Team Championship 1992 Kiss Shot Billiards 1992 Philippine Nine-ball Open Championship 1992 Lexington All Star Open 1991 Florida State Open 1991 Ohio State Open 1990 Tennessee Bar Table Championship 1990 Florida State Open 1990 Ohio State Open 1990 Japan Nine-ball Championship 1990 Jupiter Open 1990 Baxter 9-Ball Tournament 1989 Japan Nine-ball Championship 1989 International Open Nine-ball 1989 Philippine Nine-ball Open Championship 1988 World Pro Tournament 1988 All Japan Championship Nine-ball 1988 International Open Nine-ball 1988 Gandy Open 1987 Pepsi Cola Open 9-Ball 1986 Great American Open 1986 Classic Cup V 9-Ball 1986 Clyde Childress World 9-Ball Open 1982 Playboy All-around Classic 1980 Philippine Nine-ball Open Championship 1980 Taiwan International All-around 1979 Philippine National 3-Cushion Championship 1979 Philippine National Rotation Championship 1979 Philippine National Snooker Championship 1979 Japan Open 1979 Philippines-Japan Team Pocket Billiards Competition 1978 Philippines-Japan Team Pocket Billiards Competition

External links

• Industry profile of Parica
• Another industry profile of parica
• Fansite profile of Parica
• Another fansite profile of Parica