Bata rules Asian 9-Ball Jakarta leg

SMOOTH OPERATOR: Efren “Bata” Reyes wins Asian 9-Ball leg in Indonesia.

JAKARTA — Enough of cardiac finishes for Efren “Bata” Reyes. This time, it was swift and easy. Pouncing on three straight bad breaks by Yang Ching-Shun, Reyes cruised to an 11-6 victory over the fifth seed from Taiwan on Sunday to rule the second leg of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour hosted by the Indonesian capital for the first time.

Pushed to the last rack in his first four matches, Reyes didn’t need to reprise his escape act against Yang, whose misfortunes began just when he had taken a 6-5 lead over the Filipino top seed — and on his birthday at that.

With the Taiwanese star turning up two dry breaks and two scratches off the break in the last six racks, Reyes simply ran out the tables with the help of three brilliant 9-ball combos to pick up the $10,000 winner’s check and the glass trophy in the event organized by ESPN Star Sports.

“Alam nyo naman na yung mga laban ko, talagang balikatan at pahirapan,” said Bata, who won his first three matches by 9-8 scores at the Hanggar Billiard and Recreation Center.

“Si Yang na ang may pinakamagandang tira sa mga nakalaban ko dito, pero pag walang pumapasok sa break e mahirap talaga manalo,” added Reyes, ranked fifth in the world.

With the victory, the 50-year-old Reyes earned 70 ranking points on the only qualifying tournament in Asia for the World Championships in Taiwan in July. He also bounced back from a quarterfinal defeat to compatriot Antonio “Gaga” Gabica in the first Tour leg in Singapore almost a month ago.

More significantly, Bata avenged the losses of fellow Filipinos and Puyat Sports teammates Lee Vann Corteza and Gandy Valle here to Yang, who also disposed of Japan’s Satoshi Kawabata with ease, 11-6, in the second semis duel.

Valle, the victor of the Singapore leg, had eliminated compatriot and second seed Francisco Bustamante, 9-8, in the second round — keeping “Django” winless in the third year of the Tour bankrolled by San Miguel Beer and sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiards Union.

Yang’s loss to Bata was eerily similar to that of his compatriot Wu ChiaChing, who dropped the last five racks to Reyes when his break likewise failed him in their semifinal match in the morning.

Ranked 38th in the world, Yang had taken a 31 lead on Bata in the race-to-11 finals. But once his break went sour in the decisive 13th frame with the match tied at 6-6, he knew he would be settling for the $5,000 runner-up purse.

“The turning point came when my break came up dry,” said Yang, who turned 27 on Sunday. “Also, I played too soon [after beating Kawabata], and I did not have enough time to relax before playing Reyes.”

In the semifinals, Reyes pulled off yet another thriller, rallying from three racks down to nip Taiwanese prodigy Wu, 12–10, in a race-to-11 match extended another frame because of the win-by-two-racks rule.

Like in his wins over Kunihiko Takahashi, Indon Robby Suarly and Kuo Po-Cheng, it seemed all was lost for the Filipino top seed when, leading 6-4, he made two dry breaks and scratched on a 1-9 combo in the 14th frame, allowing Wu to sweep six of the next seven frames to go up 10-7.

But when “Taishan Boy” took his turn to break for the match in the 18th frame, it came up empty. Reyes couldn’t pounce on the opportunity right away because of a stubborn 2-ball, but Wu, only 16, inadvertently helped him by misplaying the blue ball to the center of the table, allowing an easy run-out.

From there, “The Magician” cleaned up the next five racks, aided by another dry break in the 19th frame and a scratched cue in the 21st by the unseeded Wu, which Reyes turned into a 1-9 combo to the corner pocket for an 11-10 lead.

In the final rack, Bata pocketed two balls off the break, and raised his cue stick in triumph when the last 9-ball went into the delight of both the Filipino and Indonesian fans that attended the midmorning match.

“Malakas talaga ang nerbyos ko ngayon, lalo na nung walang pumapasok sa break ko,” said Reyes, who had five empty breaks. “Pero nung bandang huli si Wu naman ang minalas sa bola at sa break, at napunta naman sa akin ang swerte sa break.”

“Sana sa susunod na laban [in the finals] gumanda ang break ko. Mahirap itong ganito na lagi akong ninenerbyos.”

Despite the loss, Wu said he felt it was his best chance to beat Bata in four career meetings, but regretted his luck ran out of him in an otherwise workmanlike performance.