Bata, Kiamco clash in Asian 9-ball semis

TAIPEI — Top Filipino cue artists Efren "Bata" Reyes and Warren Kiamco are once again crossing paths in the San Miguel Asian 9-ball tour, disputing a finals seat in the Taipei leg at the Leader Asia Pacific Activity Center here today.

Reyes pulled ahead to a 6-0 lead and used the rest of the match to showcase his vintage skills in a 9-4 rout of Korean Park Shin Young last night that gave him a fourth straight semifinal appearance in the rich Asian tour.

Kiamco advanced to the semis ahead of Reyes with a 9-4 thrashing of Ibrahim Min Amir — an ex-snooker player born in General Santos City in southern Philippines who made Malaysia his base the last 30 years.

Kiamco, however, didn’t look so enthusiastic when he found himself once again pitted against Reyes.

"I have to be at my best to beat him," said Kiamco of his more illustrious fellow Filipino who had beaten him in the finals in Singapore in January and last year’s season-ending tournament in Manila.

Worse, Kiamco knows Reyes at this time is playing like the Reyes of a couple of decades ago.

A third Filipino entry, Antonio Gabica, actually got to the Final 8 but he never got any farther.

Gabica, a 31-year-old Cebuano who steadily rose from the ranks in the small billiards circuit back home, had a short outing in his first final 8 appearance in the series, his bid ended by Korea’s Jeong Young Hwa, 5-9.

The other semifinal match pits Hwa against Thai Chatchawal Rutphae, who took out the last surviving member of the crack Taiwanese armada — 15-year old Wu Chia-Ching — with a riveting 9-8 victory.

Except for a missed shot on the 5-ball in the 6th rack that enabled the 43-year old Amir to level at 3-all, Kiamco was near-flawless in his quarterfinal match as he reached the semis for the second time in four legs of the event organized by the ESPN Star Sports Events Management Group.

He moved inexorably ahead, 7-3, then closed it out when Amir failed to sink a ball off his break on the 13th frame.

The 34-year-old Kiamco got a major break in the morning matches when world No. 8 Yang Ching Sun, who was in the Filipino’s way in the quarterfinals, was bundled out by Amir, 9-8.

"I got lucky there because I haven’t beaten Yang in my life," said Kiamco of the Taiwanese, who halted Reyes’ streak in the series by ruling the Hong Kong stop last week.

Earlier, Reyes took out young compatriot Lee Van Corteza, 9-6, on another upset-filled day that saw Taiwanese aces Hsia Hui Kai and Yang Ching Shun follow ex-world champion Chao Fong-Pang and world No. 1 Francisco Bustamante to the sidelines.