Bata plays Taiwanese in PBB faceoff

MANILA, Philippines - Pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes takes on two-time world junior champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan as the Philippine Big-time Billiards (PBB) Face Off Series dubbed as Philippines versus Asia resumes on Saturday at Pagcor Airport Casino in Parañaque City.

Reyes, 57, is fancied to stamp his class against Ko in the race-to-9, 10-ball tournament the way he did in disposing of fellow two-time world champion Wu Jia Qiang (formerly Wu Chia-ching) of Chinese-Taipei, 9-6, last Dec. 30.

“I trained hard for this fight so I can give a good show for pool fans,” said 1999 WPA world 9-ball and 2004 WPA world 8-Ball champion Reyes.

The event is jointly organized by the Mega Sports World and BRKHRD Corp and aired live over Solar Sports, Sky Channel 70 and Destiny Channel 34. Live streaming of the games can be viewed on www.megasportsworld.com and www.philippinebigtimebilliards.com.

Meanwhile, Francisco “Django” Bustamante will take his turn on Ko on Feb. 25.