AWAKENED by its close call on opening day, Team Asia displayed its all-around depth and talent to shut out Team Europe 4-0 on Day 2 of the Reyes Cup in front of a delighted hometown crowd at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium late Wednesday night.
Nursing a slim 3-2 edge going into the second day of action in the inaugural international team event in honor of billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, the Asians made mincemeat of the vaunted Europeans and surged ahead.
Continuing his winning run from the previous night, Vietnamese Duong Quoc Hoang played a pivotal role in Team Asia’s 5-3 win in the opening team match with his tactical safety play in the eighth rack, a harbinger of things to come for the opposition.
In a battle of two former world 9-ball champions, Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi emerged with a riveting 5-3 triumph over Spanish Francesco Sanchez Ruiz in the first singles match after the tie was deadlocked at 3-all after six frames.
A dry break by Ruiz in the final eighth rack proved costly as Ko exploited the opportunity to clean up the rack and give Team Asia a 2-0 lead in the four-day series organized by Matchroom and Puyat Sports.
Taking over from where Ko left, the tandem of Singaporean Aloysius Yapp and Hoang humbled former world No. 1 Eklent Kaci of Albania and David Alcaide of Spain 5-2.
Essaying their critical roles in the previous round, Yapp and Hoang surged to a 3-0 lead in the only doubles match, allowing their rivals to narrow the gap to 2-3 but regained control by winning the last two racks.
Johann Chua and Carlo Biado stood up smiling from the Team Asia bench to give Yapp a high-five in succession after the tandem’s triumph.
Energized by the doubles win, former world 9-ball champion Biado capped the triumphant campaign for Team Asia by subduing reigning European Open Mickey Krause of Denmark 5-3 in the last and other singles match of the night.
With the count tied at 2-all after four racks, Krause failed to execute a safety on the 3-ball that allowed the hometown bet to regain the lead before seeing his opponent make a foul in the seventh frame to finish the match with plenty to spare in the eighth.
“I am very happy with the way our team played today that gave us the shutout (win). Hopefully we can continue with this performance tomorrow night (Thursday)) and finally clinch this series a day early,” Biado said after the sweep gave Team Asia a commanding 7-2 lead in the race-to-11 series.
Team Asia is keenly aware that Team Europe, given the proud pedigree of its players, is capable of turning things around in an instant just like what the squad did on the close first day of the competition.
While all of the five players on each squad are each guaranteed $15,000 (roughly P865,912) whether they win or lose, the bragging rights as the inaugural Reyes Cup champion may mean much more for all of the participants.
