Reyes to weave his magic again

Billiards Hall of Famer Efren “Bata” Reyes is ready to weave his old black magic again in the 2012 Philippine Bigtime Billiards (PBB) Face Off Series dubbed as Philippines vs. Asia on Saturday at the Pagcor Airport Casino in Parañaque City.

The 57-year-old Reyes goes up against two-time WPA World Junior champion Taiwanese Ko Pin-Yi in the event jointly organized by the Mega Sports World and BRKHRD Corp. and aired live over Solar Sports, Sky Channel 70 and Destiny Channel 34.

Known as the first Asian to be inducted to the Billiards Hall of Fame, Reyes defeated fellow two-time world champion Wu Jia Qiang (formerly Wu Chia-ching from Chinese-Taipei), 9-6, in the PBB Face Off Series last Dec. 30.

“I trained hard for this fight so I can give a good show for pool fans,” said the 1999 WPA World 9-ball and 2004 WPA World 8-Ball champion Reyes.

Future matches of the Series will pit Ko vs. Francisco “Django” Bustamante on Feb.25.

According to Verna Mariano of BRKHRD Corp. and Bugsy Promotions, the Philippine Bigtime Billiards will introduce a fresh new format for 2012.

“The events will maintain the one-on one match format every week but each season will be composed of 17 weeks. A year is effectively divided into three seasons. In each season, players will be determined by their team affiliation. In a format similar to the Davis Cup in tennis, the Ryder Cup in golf or the Mosconi Cup in pool, two national or continental teams will compete per season,” she said.

The Philippine Team is composed of Reyes, Bustamante, Dennis Orcollo, Ronato Alcano, Carlo Biado, Lee Vann Corteza, Alex Pagulayan and Antonio Lining.

The Asian Team comprised of Ko, Chang Jung-lin, Yang Ching-shun,Chao Fong Pang and Chang Yu Long.