Player Profile Series: Jose Parica, known as “The Giant Killer”

Full Name: Jose Parica 

Birthdate: April 18, 1949

Hometown: Manila, Philippines 

Achievements: 

1982 Playboy All-Around Classic Champion

→ First male Asian player to win a professional pool event in the United States.

1986 Clyde Childress Memorial 9-Ball Open Champion

1986 Classic Cup V Champion

1988 All Japan 9-Ball Championship Winner

1988 JPPA World 9-Ball Championship Winner

→ Defeated Efren Reyes 9–3 in the finals.

→ First male Asian to win a world championship in pocket billiards.

→ Tournament featured a record 900 participants.

1996 Multiple Tournament Wins

→ Defeated Efren Reyes three times in finals after returning to full-time play.

1997 Camel Tour Champion

→ Won 5 tournaments, ranked No. 1 on the professional tour.

→ Earned $50,000 overall bonus, defeating Buddy Hall in the finale.

→ Named Billiards Digest Player of the Year (1997).

Jose Parica is a legendary Filipino professional pool player from Manila, widely known by his nicknames “Amang” (meaning Father) and “The Giant Killer.” He is a Hall of Famer in the Philippines and internationally.

Parica is best known for spearheading the “Filipino invasion” of the American pool scene in the late 1970s, particularly in Nine-ball.

In his quest to secure better opportunities and recognition for Filipino billiard players, Jose Parica took a pioneering step by founding the Philippine Pocket Billiards Association in 1976, where he also served as its first president. This marked a crucial moment in the formal organization of the sport in the Philippines.

That same year, Parica began making waves internationally. He was invited to compete in the prestigious All Japan Championship, where he impressively finished second in the Rotation division, falling just short to Japanese cue artist Tetsuro Kakuto.

In 1978, Parica broke new ground as the first professional Filipino billiards player to compete in the United States, participating in the World Straight Pool Championship and finishing 11th — a strong showing for a debut on the world stage.

By 1979, Parica returned to the Philippines and asserted his dominance at home, capturing national titles in 3-Cushion, Rotation, and Snooker — a rare and remarkable triple crown that showcased his versatility and skill across multiple billiards disciplines.

In 1985, Jose Parica was joined by fellow Filipino legend Efren “Bata” Reyes in the United States, marking the beginning of what would later be known as the iconic "Filipino Invasion" — a period that reshaped the global pool scene through the dominance of Filipino cue artists.

But even before that, Parica had already etched his name into history. In 1982, he won the Playboy All-Around Classic, becoming the first male Asian player to win a professional pool event in the United States — a groundbreaking achievement for Asian representation in the sport. His success continued to build.

In 1986, Parica claimed titles at both the Clyde Childress Memorial 9-Ball Open and the Classic Cup V, further proving his consistency and elite level of play.

With a career tally of over 100 international tournament victories — spanning the United States, the Philippines, and Japan — Parica’s résumé stands as one of the most decorated in billiards history.

In 1988, Parica dominated the Japanese circuit, winning the All Japan 9-Ball Championship.

Later that year, he captured the prestigious JPPA World 9-Ball Championship, which featured a record-breaking 900 participants. In a highly anticipated final, Parica defeated longtime rival Efren Reyes with a commanding 9–3 victory.

This triumph officially made Parica the first male Asian player to win a world championship in pocket billiards.

By 1996, he returned to full-time competition and quickly made an impact, winning four tournaments that year, including three finals victories over Reyes.

The following year, 1997, would be one of the greatest seasons of his career. Parica won five major tournaments, earned the No. 1 ranking on the professional tour, and clinched the Camel Tour overall bonus of $50,000 by defeating American legend Buddy Hall. His dominant season earned him the coveted Billiards Digest Player of the Year honor.

Despite his groundbreaking achievements and decades of dominance on the global stage, many fans and experts long felt that Jose Parica’s induction into the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Hall of Fame was overdue. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian players in professional pool, Parica continued to compete well into his 60s — not just to prove a point, but to earn the formal recognition that countless peers and pundits believed he had already long deserved.

That long-awaited honor finally came in 2014, when Parica was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame at age 65, cementing his place among the all-time greats of the sport.

His induction was not just a personal milestone, but a symbolic victory for the entire Filipino billiards community — a testament to the generations of players he inspired and the global respect he helped Philippine pool command.