Reyes Cup: Team Asia in control

MANILA, Philippines — Aloysius Yapp took control of the decisive fifth rack as he gunned down Jayson Shaw, 5-4, to give Team Asia a critical 3-2 lead over Team Europe in the inaugural Reyes Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium Tuesday night.

The 28-year-old Singaporean and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist showed nerves of steel in sweeping the final rack and snatching the hill-hill win to give the hosts the much-needed lead going into the final two days.

Yapp was also part of that second doubles match with former world 10-ball and 9-ball king Ko Pin Yi of Taiwan that bested the Spanish duo of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide, 5-2.

Vietnamese Duong Quoc Hoang accounted for the other Asia win with his 5-3 victory conquest of Albanian Eklent Kaci.

The Europeans averted what could have been a disastrous opening day as they rallied from 4-1 down in snatching a 5-4 win by the team of Sanchez Ruiz, Alcaide, Mickey Krause of Denmark and Kaci over Filipinos Carlo Biado and Johann Chua, Yapp and Duong.

The visitors’ other triumph came from Shaw and Krause over Chua and Biado, 5-3.

Action resumed in Day 2 last night in this three-day, 21-match and race-to-11 tournament, which is being held in tribute to Filipino pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes.