Play ball with ‘Bata’

Billiards whiz Efren (Bata) Reyes and TV sports broadcaster Ed Picson are getting together to organize a first-ever Southern tour featuring the 9-ball cue artist on four consecutive weekends starting Aug. 10.

Picson said the idea to stage the tour came from Reyes’ fans in Davao and Ormoc.

"A friend asked me if I could bring Bata to play in an exhibition in Davao," related Picson. "Before I could do anything about it, another friend wanted to find out if I could invite Bata to play at the Ormoc Superdome. So I thought of a tour where Bata could take on the best hustlers in Western and Central Visayas and Mindanao."

Convincing Reyes – who left last Wednesday to compete at the World Pool Championships in Cardiff, Wales, and is due back on July 25 or 26 – to headline the tour was no problem.

"Alam mo naman si Bata, for the fans – he’ll do anything," said Picson. "I talked to him about the project last month. Sure ball daw. He’s always wanted the chance to show his gratitude to his countless fans in the countryside. Ito na ang kanyang pagkakataon. It’s his first Philippine tour and he’s excited to play for the fans who continuously support him and pray for his success."

Picson said Reyes is bringing along manager Rolly Vicente and a trusted sidekick for the seven-city trip. In all, Picson said there are nine persons in the traveling party to include a TV crew that will produce a documentary to chronicle the tour highlights.

The first host will be either Bacolod or Iloilo. The last host is General Santos City on Sept. 1. Only seven hosts, including four in Mindanao, will be picked. In contention are Ormoc, Tacloban, Dumaguete, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga. Matches will be played on Friday and Sunday each weekend.

To spice up the tour with local color, Picson said each city will hold eliminations prior to Reyes’ arrival to select two qualifiers for the right to play the "Magician," also known as the "Toothless Tiger," in separate one-on-one matches.

"This isn’t only about billiards," noted Picson. "This also has a tourism angle. In our TV special, we plan to showcase the beautiful tourist spots in each city and talk about its progress in trade, industry, peace and order, and sports development."

Picson said the public response to the project has been overwhelming. "The agreement with Bata is to play in seven cities but there are at least 10 interested to host," continued Picson. "We hope to organize a second tour for the cities that won’t get to host the first. This project was born out of the wishes of Bata’s fans to see him in action and in person. Bata won’t let his fans down. We’ll make sure all the cities are eventually accommodated."

Picson, a regular on the TV panel covering Reyes’ matches, said the tour also aims to discover new pool talents – toothless or otherwise – in the provinces. Expect "The Efren (Bata) Reyes Philippine Tour" to be a monster hit.