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Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes-captained Team Asia leans on Singaporean Aloysius Yapp’s heroics to seize a surprising 3-2 lead over stacked Team Europe in Day 1 of the inaugural Reyes Cup in Manila
MANILA, Philippines – The opening day of the inaugural 9-ball Reyes Cup did not disappoint in the slightest as Team Asia seized a surprising 3-2 lead over favored Team Europe with multiple nail-biting match wins at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium stretching until early morning Wednesday, October 16.
Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp clinched the slim advantage for five-man Team Asia with an enthralling 5-4 escape over world No. 3 Jayson Shaw of the United Kingdom, controlling the ninth and final rack with a clean runout as an apt response to his foe’s own sweep the frame prior to force the day’s second hill-hill.
It was an obvious sigh of relief for the tournament’s titular figure and the sport’s greatest of all time, Efren “Bata” Reyes, who raised his hand in the air after the sinking of the final 9-ball to cap off his first night as the non-playing captain.
REYES CUP | END OF DAY 1:
Team Asia (3-2) takes the lead over Team Europe (2-3) at the end of Day 1 as Aloysius Yapp topples Jayson Shaw in a frantic 5-4 finish!
As Day 1 wraps up at Wednesday, 1:03 am, Day 2 begins 7:30 pm.#ReyesCup pic.twitter.com/QnajlOXxyQ
— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) October 15, 2024
It was a rollercoaster ride all night long for Team Asia, which started the multi-day tournament on an improbable high after blasting Team Europe in the opening team match with a 4-0 blitz on the cusp of a sweep despite the latter group fielding three of the world’s top five players.
The Europeans’ calmness and wealth of experience came in handy, however, as a Mickey Krause hit on the 3-ball that also sunk the 9 in Rack 5 sparked a four-frame comeback, capped with a Francisco Sanchez Ruiz runout on Rack 8 for the night’s first hill-hill tie.
Suddenly knotted at 4 racks, Team Asia saw an opening when world No. 7 David Alcaide scratched the 5-ball, but Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang quickly stumbled at ball 7, merely rattling the corner pocket before Alcaide stepped up to finish the job, 5-4, for the 5-0 reverse sweep and Team Europe’s first point.
Filipinos Chua, Biado crash out; Duong seizes redemption off world No. 2 stunner
Duong had his redemption, however, under a solo spotlight, as he tripped the tournament’s top player, world No. 2 Elkent Kaci of Albania, with a 5-3 stunner in Match 3 while having the lowest rank in the 10-man field at No. 38.
Conversely, Filipino bets Carlo Biado and newly crowned Hanoi Cup champion, world No. 10 Johann Chua failed to get a lift off homecourt advantage as they fell to the Shaw-Krause tandem in the fourth match, 3-5, despite rolling to a 3-0 start.
A Shaw golden break at Rack 4 — his first of two for the evening — spelled the beginning of the end for the Filipino pair as the Europeans cruised to a runout at Rack 6 for the 3-3 tie and another at Rack 8 to seal Team Europe’s second 5-0 turnaround of the evening.
Meanwhile, Yapp and world No. 12 Ko Pin Yi of Taiwan kickstarted Team Asia’s redemption earlier in the night, claiming the group’s first point in the second match off a 5-2 doubles conquest of Spanish stars Sanchez Ruiz and Alcaide.
Format
Team captains Reyes and Karl Boyes are set to submit their picks early Wednesday morning to determine the matchups in Day 2, 7:30 pm, at the same venue. Following another team match to start the night, the tournament will again alternate between singles and doubles battles.
All matches are race-to-five, while the tournament is a race-to-11 between the two continental squads, simply meaning the first to get 11 match wins goes home with the first-ever Reyes Cup championship.
Although the schedule runs until Friday, October 18, the tournament can technically wrap up on Thursday, October 17, should the race to 11 get quickly lopsided. – Rappler.com
