Reyes rallies past Canadian champ in Baguio tilt

Friday, February 20, 2009

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Efren “Bata” Reyes’ old cue stick can still wield tremendous magic.

Unruffled by a cold and shaky start, the Filipino pool maestro thwarted Canadian Gerry Watson, 9-4, yesterday to lead opening round winners in The Manny Villar Cup Panagbenga leg before a huge crowd at the Events Center of SM City Baguio.

The 54-year-old billiards Hall of Famer made a couple of unforced errors in each of the first four racks, allowing Watson, one of two wildcard bets here to surge ahead, 3-1.

Egged on by his throng of fans, however, Reyes dipped into his pocket of tricks to record another escape act that buttressed his worldwide reputation as the sport’s incomparable “Magician.”

A two-time world champion, Reyes ran out the fifth rack and went on to take the next four to seize control, 6-3, and chalk the victory that put him in line for the P300,000 top purse.

“It is cold here that’s why it took me a while to warm up and find my shots,” said Reyes in Filipino. “But Watson is really good and he gave me some trouble. Fortunately, I found my touch midway of the match.”

Watson, a three-time national champion back home, halted Reyes’ onslaught by claiming the 10th rack, only to yield when the charismatic billiards icon again waxed hot.

Former Asian Games champion Gandy Valle also advanced to the second round with a 9-5 victory over qualifier Emil Martinez, 9-5.

Valle breezed to a 4-0 start but Martinez fought back to knot the count at 4-4. Banking on his experience, Valle sealed the match by taking five of the next six racks as he boosted his chances of duplicating his triumph in last year’s Cebu leg of the island-hopping series presented by Senator Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports and supported by Camella Communities.

The former Asian Games gold medalist raced to a 4-0 lead but Martinez managed to tie the count at 4-all, forcing him to utilize his experience to the hilt to score the win.

Other early first round results saw former two-time World Juniors campaigner Rene Mar David thumping Russian Petiza, 9-3 and Egie Geronimo upending Joven Bustamante, 9-5.

A simple opening ceremony, graced by Senator Villar along with Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. and Benguet governor Nestor Fongwan, ushered the start of the competition. There, Villar reiterated his all out support to the sport “where we, Filipinos, are on top of the world.”

The Villar Cup Panagbenga leg is part of the city’s month-long flower festival.

Billiards Events Set for Vegas

Thursday, February 12, 2009

World Pool Masters and International 10-Ball Championships Set to Rock the Riviera.

The BCA Pool League is proud to announce the return of two of the most prestigious professional events to the Riviera Hotel and Casino May 2009. The 17th Party Poker.net World Pool Masters and the 9th Annual Predator 10-Ball Championship will be in the Royale Pavilion once again along side the BCAPL National 8-Ball Championships.

The World Pool Masters, one of the most revered invitational events with a limited field of 16 players is produced by Matchroom Sport and will take center stage first at the Royale Pavilion May 8-10. A large supplier of sports programming worldwide, Matchroom Sport also produces other well regarded events such as the Mosconi Cup and the World Cup of Pool in addition to Darts, Fishing, Pokes, Snooker, Boxing, Tenpin and Bowls.

Equally exciting, the Predator 10-Ball Championship produced by Dragon Promotions will move into the pavilion May 11-16. The tournament boasts a roster of the top pool talent from across the globe. Last year’s winner Tony Drago of Malta, considered one of the fastest players in the world, will have an opportunity to defend his 2008 title. Once again he will have to face players such as Shane Van Boening, Mika Immonen, Johnny Archer, Francisco Bustamante, John Schmidt, Efren Reyes and the 2008 World Pool Masters winner Alex Pagulayan just to name a few of the illustrious names who will be in attendance. Watch for links on the BCA Pool League web site at Playbca.com for more information and tickets to the professional events. For more information about Matchroom Sport and the World Pool Masters please visit Matchroomsport.com and for the Predator 10-Ball Championship visit Dragonpromotions.com.
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World Pool Masters and International 10-Ball Championships Set to Rock the Riviera

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The BCA Pool League is proud to announce the return of two of the most prestigious professional events to the Riviera Hotel and Casino May 2009. The 17th Party Poker.net World Pool Masters and the 9th Annual Predator 10-Ball Championship will be in the Royale Pavilion once again along side the BCAPL National 8-Ball Championships.

The World Pool Masters, one of the most revered invitational events with a limited field of 16 players is produced by Matchroom Sport and will take center stage first at the Royale Pavilion May 8-10. A large supplier of sports programming worldwide, Matchroom Sport also produces other well regarded events such as the Mosconi Cup and the World Cup of Pool in addition to Darts, Fishing, Pokes, Snooker, Boxing, Tenpin and Bowls.

Equally exciting, the Predator 10-Ball Championship produced by Dragon Promotions will move into the pavilion May 11-16. The tournament boasts a roster of the top pool talent from across the globe. Last year’s winner Tony Drago of Malta, considered one of the fastest players in the world, will have an opportunity to defend his 2008 title. Once again he will have to face players such as Shane Van Boening, Mika Immonen, Johnny Archer, Francisco Bustamante, John Schmidt, Efren Reyes and the 2008 World Pool Masters winner Alex Pagulayan just to name a few of the illustrious names who will be in attendance.