Reyes lords it over in Chesapeake

Efren Reyes has defeated Young Hwa Jeong 13-7 to win the Mid Atlantic 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake, Virginia.

The Filipino pool ace, a leading candidate for the "Greatest 9-Ball Player of All Time" poll being conducted by AZ Billiards, was his usual humble self after the thrilling finale, attributing his win to his knack for "getting lucky in the first events of each year".

Both players played extremely well all week, and neither player lost a match until they met to play for the hot seat on Sunday. Jeong came out the victor in that match, 11-8, but that would not be the last Jeong would see Reyes in this tournament.

Reyes took his trip to the one-loss side where he had a rematch with fellow Filipino player Francisco Bustamante. Reyes the defeated Bustamante, the 2002 Player of the Year, 11-6, on Saturday night and repeated that performance Sunday afternoon with an 11-8 victory to set up the rematch with Jeong in the finals.

The final match went back and forth early with neither player holding a lead of more than one game and forced the last deadlock at 4-all. It was then that Reyes made his move and pushed out to a 9-4 lead before scoring the 13-7 victory.

Reyes pocketed $15,000 for the win while Jeong settled for $8,000 in second place prize money. Bustamante and Rodney Morris filled out the top four spots.