MANILA, Philippines – Numbers don’t lie in sports, but perhaps, the inaugural 9-ball Reyes Cup is proving to be an unlikely example of an exception to the rule.
Team Europe, comprised of three of the world’s top five pool players, now faces an even steeper mountain to climb ahead of the tournament’s final day after supposed underdog Team Asia rolled with two more wins for a sizeable 9-3 lead in the race-to-11 tournament on Thursday, October 17.
Further atoning for its Day 1 collapse in team play, the five-player Asian delegation, captained by all-time pool great Efren “Bata” Reyes, exploded right out of the gate in Day 3 with four straight racks in Match 1, highlighted by a stolen Rack 3 off an untimely Mickey Krause misfire on a 9-ball glued to the side rail.
Not even an Eklent Kaci runout on Rack 5 moved the needle for Team Europe as likely tournament MVP favorite Aloysius Yapp simply repaid the favor with his own match-clinching runout in Rack 6 for Team Asia’s sixth straight match win built off an astounding 4-0 Day 2 sweep.
Yapp’s winning momentum only got better as the night wore on as he and Filipino veteran Carlo Biado teamed up for a 5-3 conquest in Match 3 of the tournament’s best possible duo: world No. 2 Kaci and No. 3 Jayson Shaw.
The Singaporean star got the ever-enthusiastic Manila crowd at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on pins and needles the entire match, putting a delicate spin on a tough 5-ball hit in Rack 4 to pave the way for an easy finish, then having a dramatic slow drop on the 2-ball in Rack 8 to spark a match-winning runout.
Biado was likewise on point, capitalizing on a missed Kaci 2-ball in Rack 7 before sinking the 4 from a tough angle to clear the runway for another claimed rack.
Team Europe’s lone silver lining in another forgettable night was a sloppy, yet entertaining 5-3 doubles win for Shaw and world No. 5 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz over top-ranked Filipino Johann Chua and world No. 12 Ko Pin Yi.
Day 3 cut short as legendary Django Bustamante makes exhibition cameo
With Team Asia coming within two points of winning the tournament, organizer Matchroom made the business decision nearly two hours before the scheduled end to postpone the last two matches on the Thursday card and save them for the Friday finale on October 18.
Ticketholders, however, still got their money’s worth with a hastily assembled exhibition between pool icons Jeremy Jones and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, the latter being Reyes’ longtime partner-in-crime and also one of the game’s all-time greats.
Although the pair largely just horsed around on their racks to the delight of the crowd, the 60-year-old Bustamante nonetheless showed what remained of his legendary prowess, beating the 53-year-old Jones, 4-2, in a race-to-four.
A viewing marathon may now be in store for pool fans come Friday night, as Team Europe can technically extend the tournament to a maximum of nine games all the way to the wee hours of Saturday, October 19, should Team Asia have a monumental collapse and blow a six-match lead. – Rappler.com