‘Beat Bata’ 9-ball tilt underway

World class 9-ball billiards competition, featuring former world champion and PSA Athlete of the Year co-awardee Efren "Bata" Reyes, reels off today at the Hiro Billiards Square in Makati.

Billed as the "Beat Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes" Professional House Tournament, top local cue masters Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, Antonio "Nikoy" Lining and Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego will be competing against each other in a double elimination contest to earn the right to play against Reyes for the championship.

At stake is a cash prize of P30,000 for the champion, P15,000 for second place and P10,000 for third place.

The one-day competition, set at the Hiro Billiards Square, second floor, Union Makati Building (in front of the McDonald’s outlet) along J.P. Rizal St., Makati City, is open to the public. The elimination rounds will start at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, Reyes’ victory in last year’s Accu-Stats 8-Ball Invitational headlines back-to-back sports spectaculars over Viva TV on IBC-13 today.

The classic battle between Reyes and former world champion Johnny Archer will be telecast from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. It is sponsored by Motolite, No Fear, Pepsi, PLDT and Emperador.

This will be followed by a one-hour boxing special, "Vengeance in Yokohama" featuring Joma Gamboa of the Philippines and Japan’s shifty Keitaro Hoshino.