Bata forges semis duel vs Corteza

Efren “Bata” Reyes made sure last night that his fans will get to see him play in the final day of the Senator Manny Villar 9-ball tournament at the Starmall in Alabang.

Reyes, still the man to beat in this star-studded event, reached the semis with a 9-5 victory over Jherome Peña, towing with him three players all capable of winning.

“Mahirap sabihin kung ano mangyayari bukas (It’s difficult to say what will happen tomorrow). Pero semis na ako (But I’m in the semis),” he said seconds after the victory.

In the semis, Reyes will face Lee Van Corteza, a 9-5 winner over Dennis Orcollo, while Gandy Valle, who beat Antonio Lining, 9-3, takes on Warren Kiamco, who bested Elmer Haya, 9-5.

The finals is scheduled at 5 p.m.

Corteza is the reigning national champion, Valle is a gold medalist in the 1998 Asian Games while Kiamco is a winner of three Bar Table titles in the US last year.

Yesterday afternoon, Reyes won eight racks in a row to beat giant-killer Benjie Guevarra, 9-3, to reach the quarterfinals.

Reyes faced a 3-1 deficit before winning eight straight racks. Guevarra managed a few trips to the table but never really got a clear, open and easy shot.

“Minalas na din siya (He ran out of luck),” said Reyes who at 53 may be stretching his best years in the sport. His last big win came in the 2006 IPT World 8-Ball in Nevada.

Reyes cited the eighth game when Guevarra, trailing 4-3, missed what looked like an easy 5-9 combination. Reyes did not waste the opportunity, racing to a 5-3 lead instead of dropping into a tie. 

“Yung mga sablay niya hindi pa din benta sa akin (Even when he missed he never left me with an easy shot),” said Guevarra who shocked 2006 world champion Ronnie Alcano in last Tuesday’s opener.

Before the match, the table official introduced Guevarra, loudly over the microphone, as Benjie Paras (the basketball superstar), drawing jeers from the crowd.

Reyes also missed a handful shots during the match. After a brief rest, he went to practice. While matches continued in the other tables, the crowd remained glued on the one where Reyes was practicing.

The unheralded Peña needed all 17 racks to beat Jundell Mazon, 9-8. A dry break on the final rack did Mazon in.

Corteza downed Carlo Biado, 9-4, Orcollo stopped Ricky Zerna, 9-2, Lining survived Mark Mendoza, 9-6, Valle tripped Ramil Gallego, 9-5, Kiamco whipped Rodolfo Luat, 9-3, and Haya stunned Joven Bustamante, 9-4.

The winner will receive P400,000 while the runner-up takes home P200,000 and third-placer P100,000. The semis and finals will be played today, and after that comes a race-to-four rotation match between Reyes and Alcano.

Meanwhile, Joey Pardales stretched his unbeaten run to six matches and showed the way in the New Billiards Idol division, which is now down to just four contenders.

Pardales defeated Ricky Gamboa and John Rebong on identical 7-5 scores to lead the race for the P200,000 top prize contested by the country’s lower-ranked players.

Pardales will next face Arnel Bautista, who demolished William Millares, 7-1. The other match pits Benson Palce against Ato Baliton who made it to the semis by beating JR Sorio.