Japan next stop for red-hot Bata

Efren "Bata" Reyes hopes to ride the momentum of his back-to-back victories in the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour as he tries to add the Japan Open crown this weekend to his list of victories in the international pool stage.

Reyes, who arrived last night from his triumphant campaign in Vietnam where he pocketed the second of a possible five-stage sweep of the Asian circuit, is again expected to meet Taiwan’s Chao Fong Pang, whom he beat, 11-9, in a thrilling come-from-behind win last Sunday.

The 49-year-old former world 9-ball champion will leave for Tokyo this Friday where he will seek a follow-up to his big victory in Vietnam that kept him on course for a rare sweep of the five legs of the San Miguel 9-ball tour.

Reyes and Chao are expected to be joined in the Japan tilt by the other top Asian tour campaigners, including Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Antonio Lining, who outplayed Chao in the finals to win the 2000 edition of the event.

But with Reyes oozing with confidence, the Japan Open could be his for the taking and another victory will surely fire him up when he resumes his bid for a third straight crown in the San Miguel tour on April 17-18 in Hong Kong.

The fourth leg of the series, sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union and organized by ESPN STAR, will be held May 7-9 in Taiwan where Reyes is expected to play before a hostile crowd before the tour winds up in Manila on May 29-30 where the Filipino champ hopes to frolic and flash his winning form before local fans.

The Vietnam feat was actually Reyes’ third straight, counting his victory in the last leg of last year’s edition of the tour here where he won the crown over Warren Kiamco, the very same player he disposed of with ease in the final of this year’s circuit in Singapore last month.

Those wins gave Reyes a pacesetting 140 world championship points, virtually ensuring him of another crack at the world crown in Cardiff, Wales in July. Chao and Alok Kumar of India, whom Reyes thrashed in the semis over the weekend, both have 80 points while Kiamco is ranked fourth with 70 points. Reyes also raised his tour earnings this year to $58,700.

Down 5-9 in one stretch, a resilient Reyes bounced back to complete one of the most stirring comebacks in top-notch pool action, pouncing on Chao’s bad break on the 15th rack then sustained that drive to stop the Taiwanese for the first time in their last three faceoffs.

"Akala ko, talo na ako. Pero sinuwerte pa rin talaga dahil nung sumama ang break niya, gumanda naman ang laro ko," said Reyes.