Reyes to defend US crown

Efren "Bata" Reyes hopes to bounce back from a setback to compatriot Jose "Amang" Parica in the final of the Pechauer West Coast Tour over the weekend as he opens his title-retention bid in the rich International Challenge of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA beginning Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).

The two-day tournament has lured the world’s top cue artists, including Francisco "Django" Bustamante, with the former world 9-ball champion Reyes out to defend the crown he won last year, together with the princely $50,000 winner-take-all prize.

But the amiable Filipino player will be coming into the event reeling from a loss to Parica in the Hollywood, California tilt where the latter, coming from the loser’s bracket, dominated the former, 13-4, to win the title and the top $2,300 purse.

The Challenge of Champions title is one of the four crowns Reyes won last year in an otherwise successful campaign that netted him $126,200 in winnings.

This year, Reyes currently leads the Player Money list with $40,550 in earnings on two first-place finishes in the Mid Atlantic 9-ball tilt and the Manila leg of the San Miguel Asian 9-ball tour.

Bustamante, on the other hand, is in sixth behind Fil-Canadian and runner-up to this year’s world 9-ball championship Alex Pagulayan with $30,500 in winnings on two victories.

Meanwhile, Reyes and Bustamante are lined up for a busy campaign until the end of the year with the country’s top two players also set to head the chase for the top $20,000 purse in the World Pool Masters in Holland on Aug. 29-31.

If plans push through, the duo, along with the other local masters, will compete in a Manila tournament before they proceed to the US for the US Open in Chesapeake in Virginia.

Reyes and Bustamante will then head to Poland for the World Pool League tilt where Reyes is the defending champion. Other tournaments lined up for them are the IBC Tokyo 9-ball International Open in Tokyo on Nov. 7-9, the World All-Stars Taiwan tournament in Taipei on Nov. 13-16, and the All-Japan Championship in Osaka on Nov. 18-24. A star-studded Philippine Open is likewise being mulled in late November or early December. — Dante Navarro