Bata rips Wu in PBB Face Off showdown
Philippine billiards icon Efren “Bata” Reyes flashed some of his old-fashioned magic on the billiards table to beat Wu Jia Qiang of Chinese-Taipei, 9-6 in their Philippine Bigtime Billiards (PBB) Face Off Series showdown late Friday at the Pagcor Airport Casino in Parañaque City.
A 2005 WPA world 9-Ball and 8-Ball champion, Wu Chia-ching who is now playing for mainland China and carrying a new name Wu Jia Qing is young enough to be the 57-year-old Reyes’ son as he will turn 23 on Feb. 9.
“Luck played a huge part in my victory. Wu is a very tough opponent and I really had a hard time beating him,” said Reyes, the 1999 WPA World 9-ball champion and 2004 WPA World 8-Ball winner.
It was a sweet revenge for the Angeles City, Pampanga native Reyes who lost to Wu in their quarter-final encounter in the 11th Predator International 10-Ball Championship last September.
“I hope to play with him again as it’s really exciting going up against one of the world’s best cue artists,” he added.
The win was worth $5,000 for Reyes while Wu settled for $2,500 in the race-to-9, winner’s break format, jointly organized by the Mega Sports World and BRKHRD Corp and aired live over Solar Sports, Sky Channel 70 and Destiny Channel 34.
Among the Filipino stars who have played in the PBB Face Off Series are Carlo “The Black Tiger” Biado, Dennis “Robocop” Orcollo, Ronato “Volcano” Alcano, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza and Roberto “Superman” Gomez.
The PBB Face Off Series will resume on Feb. 18, 2012 with a new format. The organizing committee lined up a match pitting Philippines vs. The Rest of Asia, Asia vs. Europe and East vs. West.
