By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Billiards icon Efren “Bata” Reyes was given rockstar treatment recently when he attended the 2024 World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Widely regarded as the greatest pool player of all time, the 69-year-old cue artist known as “The Magician” was seen being escorted inside the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal City Sports Hall during the said nine-ball tournament.
Several posts from Matchroom Pool showed Reyes meeting several players competing in the tournament, and even holding the championship trophy.
Organizers also hosted a meet-and-greet session for Reyes and his fans.
“An absolute honor to have Efren Reyes with us here at the World Pool Championship. LEGEND!” Matchroom Multi Sport CEO Emily Frazer wrote in a social media post.
Reyes, 69, was the first Filipino to win the said nine-ball tournament in 1999, where he defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chang Hao-ping, 17-8, held in Cardiff, Wales.
Four more Filipinos followed suit in winning the event that included Alex Pagulayan in 2004, Ronnie Alcano in 2006, Francisco “Django” Bustamante in 2010, and Carlo Biado in 1017.
CHUA LOSES
Meantime, Johann Chua came up two wins short of hoisting the 2024 World Pool Championship trophy after losing to Turkey’s Eklent Kaci in the semifinals, 11-6, on Saturday, June 8 (early Sunday in Manila) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The reigning World Cup of Pool champion saw his comfortable 6-3 lead slip from his hands as Kaci took charge in the remaining eight racks and booked a finals berth in this $1 million tournament.
The Turkish cue artist, however, bowed to eventual champion Fedor Gorst of the United States in a pulsating 15-14 decision to settle for the runner-up honors.
Despite the semifinal defeat, Chua said he was proud of what he had accomplished.
“Time will pass. No one will remember who came in third place, but I will,” Chua wrote in a lengthy post on social media.
“I’ll always remember this experience, the arena, the games I played in this tournament and those people who supported me during this process. I’m more than grateful. I was able to place deep and push myself further than what I expected,” he added.
