Bata snatches win from jaws of defeat

TAIPEI — Nobody does it better than Efren "Bata" Reyes.

Like in his Vietnam caper, Reyes snatched victory from the clutches of defeat, winning the last four racks and beating a stunned Korean Jeong Young Hwa, 12-10, in the final of the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour’s fourth leg here last night.

Just when everybody, perhaps even the man they call the "Magician," thought they had heard the last of the Filipino champion, Reyes fought back from 8-10 down to force a 10-10 tie then racked the next two frames, including a steal on the 21st rack behind a jump shot rarely seen from him, to fashion out the improbable victory.

It was actually a race-to-11 duel but Reyes, after taking the third of the last four racks, needed to gain a two-rack cushion to clinch the win before a big crowd of Filipinos at the Asia Pacific Learning Activity Center.

The victory only firmed up Reyes’ stake in the five-stage, nation-hopping $250,000 series sponsored by San Miguel Beer and organized by ESPN STAR Sports Management Group as the 49-year-old ace cue master notched his third victory after sweeping the first two legs of the circuit in Singapore and Vietnam.

With 250 ranking points and another $10,000 purse, Reyes now assured himself of a stint in this year’s World Pool Championship, set to fire off July 10, also here.

Reyes, who also came from behind to shock two-time world champion Chao Fong Pang of Taiwan in Vietnam, swamped compatriot Warren Kiamco in the semis, 11-4, then appeared headed for a trouble-free march to the championship when he seized a 7-4 lead midway in the final he highlighted with early brilliant, implausible banked shots that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.

However, Reyes, the top Puyat Sports bet, wavered, in an uncharacteristic manner, as he missed shots which he normally make with relative ease, enabling the Korean world No. 9 to steal racks and force a 7-all tie before eventually wresting a 10-8 lead.

But the amiable Reyes had other things in mind.

After pocketing the 19th rack off Jeong’s break, scored a runout on the next to force a tie then stole the 21st frame again on a perfectly crafted but seldom-used stroke — a jump shot over two balls blocking the yellow 1.

The next shots were comparatively straightforward for Reyes, who raised his cue in triumph after scoring another runout on the 22nd rack.

Earlier, he simply rewrote the script of their previous duels with Kiamco – Reyes running out rack after rack, and Kiamco spending most of the one hour and 15 minutes on his seat, getting increasingly frustrated with each frame.

"Wala naman akong tinira na mahirap. Maganda lang talaga ang taya ng bola para sa akin," said Reyes, attributing his third win in as many meetings against Kiamco largely to luck.

It wasn’t so with Kiamco.

The 34-year old Cebuano admitted he could‚ve played better, but he could simply not get over a shot Reyes pulled off in the eighth frame with the match still a toss-up up until that point at 4-3.

Kiamco thought he had Reyes in a bind, the 2-ball hidden behind two balls near the corner pocket with no clear path for the cue ball to penetrate.

Or so he thought.

Striding lazily into the table, Reyes hit a long bank shot that not only found the 2-ball but ˆ to Kiamco‚s horror – also had it hiding from the white ball behind two colored balls.

"Akalain mong tinamaan na nga, itinago pa ang dos," Kiamco said, shaking his head.

Kiamco, as expected, fouled on his next shot and Reyes took the rack for a 5-3 lead. The Hall of Famer would go on to win six of the next seven frames to wrap up the match.

"Sayang, maganda pa naman ang pakiramdam ko. Sobrang galing lang ngayon ni Efren," said Kiamco, who settled for a $3,000 paycheck for his second semis stint in the first four legs on this year‚s series.

"Sana ganito rin ang tira ko sa world pool," said Reyes, looking forward to the world‚s most prestigious pool tournament the Filipino won in 1999 in Cardiff, Wales which will be held here in mid-July.

The fifth and final stop of this series will be held May 28-30 at the Octagon inside the Robinson‚s Galeria mall in Mandaluyong.