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Thursday, July 17, 2003
Bata advances
THE Filipinos had a bitter-sweet opening salvo in the knockout stages with Efren "Bata" Reyes and Cebu's Warren Kiamco suffering separate fates yesterday in the 2003 World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales.
Reyes advanced to the last-32 after repulsing American ace Johnny Archer, a two-time winner in this tournament, in what was the most anticipated match in the first round of the knockout stages.
The Filipino cue wizard, the 1999 champion, endured a game of long spells and some jittery putting to put out Archer, 9-5.
After racing to a 3-0 lead, Reyes looked poised for a comfortable win before Archer rebounded with a sweep of the next four racks to wrest the lead. But Reyes equalized in the next rack, then pooled together three more wins for a 7-4 lead and just two racks away from securing the match.
With only the nine-ball - sitting just inches away from the left corner pocket - separating Reyes from an 8-4 lead, the Filipino's precision putting suddenly left him, miscuing away the rack to allow Archer to inch closer, 5-7.
But the American failed to capitalize and Reyes quickly rebounded in the next rack to move just a rack away from the finish line at 8-5.
Another erratic putting highlighted the 14th rack, this time with Archer at the losing end as he missed an easy putt with the six-ball to the right corner pocket.
Reyes, flashing his trademark smile as he approached the table, swiftly seized the opportunity and cleaned the rest of the balls to seal his entry to the next round.
Reyes rubbed his hand on his chest after sinking the nine-ball in the corner pocket in the match-clinching 14th rack, indicating his relief surviving a tense match.
"I was nervous," the Filipino pool legend later confided after the race-to-9 game.
On the other hand, Kiamco, third placer in Group 9 behind compatriot Ramil Gallego and Steve Davis, fell to Luxembourg's Marc Holtz, 3-9.
Kiamco became the Filipinos' second casualty in the tournament following the early exit of Ronnie Alcano, who failed to make it to the last 64.
The Philippines earlier became the most represented country in the knockout stage with eight of nine players surviving the group eliminations.
Marlon Manalo faces Ernesto Dominguez, Dennis Orcollo against Max Eberle, Antonio Lining versus Japan's Haruyoshi Hinokiyama, Ramil Gallego against Russia's Evgeny Stalev, while Filipino-Canadian Alex Pagulayan takes on Japan's Shintaro Sugaya. JCT/PCC |
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