NEWLY-MINTED Hanoi Open champion Johann Chua is ready to prove that Asian players can dominate the pool stage as the inaugural Reyes Cup got going yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“Gusto nating ipakita na ang Asia, hindi nila puwedeng tanggalin sa laro na ito dahil nandito iyong pinakamagaling, pinaka-legend ng laro, galing sa Asia, galing sa bansa natin sa Pilipinas (na si Efren Bata Reyes),” said Chua, currently the top pool player in the country and ranked 10th in the World.
“Napakaganda nito na mapapakita natin ngayon na maraming talento ang Asians and hopefully makuha natin ito to be able to prove to them na tayo talaga iyong the best when it comes to pool.”
Chua, who copped his first major individual 9-ball pool title in the World Nine-Ball Tour over the weekend in Vietnam, went into battle against Team Europe in the company of compatriot Carlo Biado, Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi, Aloysius Yapp of Singapore and Vietnamese Duong Quoc Hoang, with Filipino pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes as their team captain.
Team Europe has Jayson Shaw from England, Spaniards Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide, Albanian Eklent Kaci and Mickey Krause from Denmark, and is led by English World champions Karl Boyes.
“Mahigit isang dekada na silang (Team Europe) naglalaro ng ganitong format. Sila-sila lang din iyon. Tayo, first time natin ito pero kapag nasa arena na iba na, iyong talent na iyong lalabas dito and bulagaan na lang ito. Kung sino ang unang kumurap (ay) talo,” said Chiua, 32, who beat Ko in the Hanoi Open finals 13-7 and won the top prize of $30,000.
“Siyempre iba pa rin iyong magpe-perform ka sa sarili mong bansa and with my family and my friends, iyon iyong mga bagay na sobrang excited ako ngayon and hindi ko talaga maantay na mag-perform ako,” he said.
