Newly-crowned Reyes sets sights on Poland title

Efren "Bata" Reyes left Japan for Poland Thursday in pursuit of a third major title for the year 2001 a day after capturing the Tokyo 9-Ball Championship, indisputably the biggest, richest international billiard tournament ever staged.

Reyes will play in the $50,000 World Pool League in Warsaw on Nov. 16-18 featuring eight invited pool pros including reigning world champion Mika Immonen of Finland, five-time world champion Earl Strickland of the United States and countrymen Francisco "Django" Bustamante.

The 47-year-old Filipino pool pro, popularly known as "The Magician" in the United States and elsewhere in the world, easily defeated Niels Feijen, 15-7 (not 15-5 as previously reported) in the finals of the Tokyo meet to add the title to his already vast collection of trophies and win the whopping first prize of 20-million yen ($160,000). Reyes led Feijen throughout the match and never gave the young Dutchman a chance to get into his game.

It was Reyes’ second major title this year. Last April he defeated Strickland, 13-9, in the finals of the first US Masters Championship in Chesapeake, Virginia. He also won Accu-Stats 8-Ball invitational tournament in Los Angeles before winning his one-on-one match with woman world pool champion Jeanette Lee in the L.G. Flatron Billiard Challenge at Casino Filipino recently.

More than 700 players from 33 countries competed in the classic Tokyo tournament organized by the International Billiards Council (IBC) of Japan which put up a record-setting prize purse of 100-million yen ($800,000).

The world’s best pool pros came to the Japanese capital, including 23 Filipinos, three of whom finished in the Top 5 at the end of the four-day meet.

"We are proud of Efren and all the Filipinos who completed. They showed the world that they are the best in their sport and one again brought honor to our country," said Sportsman Aristeo "Putch" Puyat who, with his brother Jose G. Puyat, sponsors Reyes, Bustamante, Rodolfo Luat and Leonardo Andam.