Bata stays on course but Django falls

HONG KONG — Efren "Bata" Reyes remained on course of his bid for a third straight leg crown in the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour as he held off Japanese Satoshi Kawabata, 9-6, Sunday to advance to the semifinal round of the $50,000 event at the Hong Kong Football Club’s sports hall here yesterday.

But while Reyes sustained his amazing win streak in the series, now at 13 counting his sweep of the first two legs in Singapore and Vietnam and his victories in the first two rounds of this weekend’s event, compatriot Francisco "Django" Bustamante continued to struggle on the tour, dropping a sorry 7-9 decision to Taiwan’s Hsia Hui Kai in their own side of the quarterfinal duel late Saturday night.

Bustamante, who only reached the second round of the first two legs of the circuit sponsored by San Miguel Beer and organized by ESPN STAR Sports Management Group, actually looked headed for a semis stint after taking the first four racks of his race-to-9 duel with Hsia.

But bad breaks in his succeeding turns stalled the charge of the top seeded player here and Hsia pounced on them with remarkable resolve to pound out the stirring come-from-behind victory and arrange an all-Taiwanese semis clash in the upper bracket with Chao Fong Pang. The former two-time world pool champion swamped Patrick Ooi of Malaysia, 9-5, in the quarters.

From a 0-4 deficit, Hsia racked up the next six racks to seize control then showed up Bustamante with flawless pocket shots in the last six racks, particularly on his last three turns off the break, to preserve the victory to the disappointment of the sizeable Filipino crowd who had braced for an all-Filipino finale.

Still, Reyes, the last man standing among the four crack Puyat Sports-sponsored players, lived up to his billing as the player to beat here although he had to go through some anxious moments before disposing of the challenge of the 34-year-old left-handed Japanese bet.

"Mahirap din dahil lahat naman yan may mga tira," said Reyes, who was quickly whisked away by a large Filipino group who had prepared a grand lunch for the Team Puyat Sports which included Antonio Gabica and Warren Kiamco.

Reyes, ranked No. 2 here, tries to foil the Taiwanese juggernaut as he guns for the championship berth against third seed Yang Ching Shun, whose 9-0 rout of Korean ace Park Shin Young spoke well of the caliber of the player whom the former world 9-ball champion would try to hurdle in the second semis match late Sunday afternoon.

But Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, the long-time patron of Reyes and company, remains hopeful of his ward’s chances, hinting experience and talent will prevail in the end.

Just like what Reyes proved against Kawabata. Cashing in on Kawabata’s scratch shot on the first rack, Reyes, opting for a conservative stand than an aggregate game, took the first two frames, flaunted some world class pocketing to go 5-3 and appeared headed for a 3-rack lead after the Japanese came up zilch off the break.

But Reyes lost his touch in a brief exchange of safeties in the 9th rack, uncharacteriscally committing a foul shot when he put too much spin on the cue ball while trying to hit a carom on Nos. 2-3 stuck on the edge of the rail.

Kawabata won that one and the next to draw level. But just when he thought he had put the pressure on the Filipino champion, who had kept on scratching his head in between missed shots and poor preparations while flashing his enigmatic toothless grin, Reyes won the 11th highlighted by a spectacular shot on No. 1 which rested on the edge of the corner pocket.

but whose path was slightly blocked by the blue 2. His shot hit the rail first before sinking the yellow 1 while sending the No. 2 ball rolling onto the opposite corner and disappearing into the pocket.

The crowd braced for more Reyes‚ antics but after Kawabata tied the count at 6-6 and Reyes scored on a run-out on the next to stay on top, the Japanese, faced with a difficult shot where he had to sink a covered No. 1, came through with a jump shot that knocked the yellow ball into the corner pocket.

But Kawabata uncharacteristically missed on the red 3 on his next shot, giving Reyes a golden chance to steal the rack. He did and went on to score another run-out on the 15th to complete the victory.

Meanwhile, STAR Sports will telecast the event on May 1 starting with the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. while the semifinal matches and the championship will be aired on May 2 starting at 2 p.m.