By REYNALD MAGALLON
Team Asia asserted its place atop the world’s bests after reigning supreme in the inaugural Reyes Cup with an 11-6 triumph over the fanciedTeam Europe on Friday, Oct. 18 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
As dominant as it was in first three days of the event, Team Asia had to overcome some hiccups in the fourth day before Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei and Duong Quoc Hoang of Vietnam put Team Asia on the hill in the doubles play and Singaporean pool master Alloysius Yapp capped the victory with a 5-1 rout of Spain’s Sanchez Ruiz.
“I’m proud of the whole team. At the start of the week, I was very nervous and made a lot of mistakes, but my teammates supported me and lifted up my spirit, and Efren is the best coach I could ask for,” said Yapp who was also joined by Filipino stars Carlo Biado and Johann Chua in the team captained by Filipino pool legend Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes.
“It’s a priceless moment for me, not only for me but I believe for all of us to be part of this Reyes Cup with champ Efren here with us so we’re really proud of this,” said Chua, the Hanoi Open champion, who took the lead for Team Asia.
While it was a masterful victory for the Asians, Team Europe, composed of three of the top five players in the world, did not go down without a fight as it finally regained their touches after a sloppy first three days.
David Alcaide’s 5-4 win over Chua and Jayson Shaw’s 5-2 and 5-2 wins over Biado and Hoang made the fourth day of the event all the more interesting as Team Europe tried to live to fight for another day.
Hoang and Ko though pulled away from a tight 3-3 contest against the duo of Sanchez Ruiz and Mickey Krause, sweeping the last two racks for a 5-3 victory putting Team Asia on the brink of the title.
Yapp put on the finishing touches, taking an early 3-1 lead before pouncing on the costly errors of Sanchez Ruiz – the last on a foul on the two-ball which allowed the Singaporean to get back on the table and reach the hill first.
Yapp then coolly took care of business with a runout on the sixth rack as Team Asia claimed the victory much to the delight of the ever enthusiastic Filipino crowd inside the venue.
