Monday, November 06, 2006
Bata chances alive
IT seems the World Pool Championship isn’t complete without Earl Strickland acting up.
The volatile American again stole the limelight when he stormed out of his match against Frenchman Vincent Facquet in the opening day.
Efren “Bata” Reyes, on the other hand, kept his cool and won by the skin of his teeth in his second match, 8-7, after a shocking loss with the same margin in opening day.
Bata, though, still has to beat his Indonesian opponent to qualify for the last 64 and keep his title hopes alive.
According to a worldpoolchampionship.com report, the three time champion Strickland, kept muttering under his breath and fidgeting to Facquet’s annoyance early in the match.
The Frenchman also retaliated in kind, forcing the referee to step in and warn the two players.
That didn’t stop Strickland as he kept fiddling his case while Facquet was taking a shot, and Nigel Rees issued a final warning on Strickland.
Facquet was already leading 7-4, when Strickland asked if he could concede the final rack. But before Rees could answer, he left and said “I don’t care, I’m out of here,” the report said.
Behavior
Strickland’s behavior has landed him in trouble in tournaments outside the US. During the WPC in Cardiff a few years back, Strickland had a run in with the crowd, who was rooting for Steve Davis, their countryman.
It was a tight game, with Strickland missing a shot in a crucial rack. However, Davis failed to clean up the rack and missed a shot on the seven ball, just two balls away from victory.
After the miss, Strickland raised his hands to the heavens and shouted “Justice! Justice!”
Last Saturday, American Tony Crosby shocked Reyes in his first match, jeopardizing the Filipino pool legend's chances of making the last 64.
A second defeat would have meant an early exit for Reyes. But the 1999 World Championship winner avoided a humiliating exit, kept his nerve, and won, barely, against Radoslaw Babica of Poland, who crashed out of the competition due to the loss.
Not optimistic
Reyes, the top pick to win this year, must now beat Roy Apancho of Indonesia on Monday at the Philippine International Convention Center.
"I don't want to take him lightly because he beat Babica by a big margin (8-1) and I only beat him (Babica) 8-7. That's why I can't take any chances with the match as Apancho is capable of causing damage," said Reyes in the worldpoolchampionship.com report.
The report said Reyes lost the first rack but came back for a 4-2 lead. Babica struck back, and seemed like causing another upset in the race to eight.
Reyes stood his ground and took the last rack for the win, to the relief of the hometown crowd. (ML)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 6, 2006 issue)
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