CARLO Biado did not expect Team Asia to be 4-0 ahead of Team Rest of the World after Day One of the 2nd Reyes Cup, but stressed the importance of setting the tone this early on.
"Nakaka-pressure 'yung laban pero maganda yung naging pabor ng bola sa amin kaya nakauna kami," he said late Thursday night.
The reiging world champion anchored the hosts' opening-day whitewash, pouncing on the visitors' errors to gain this huge advantage in this race-to-11-wins event.
READ Team Asia opens Reyes Cup title defense with a bang
From scoring two racks in an overwhelming 5-1 victory in the teams match to a clinical 5-3 triumph over Moritz Neuhausen in the singles, Biado was in fine form - a proof of the determination of Team Asia to keep the trophy on home soil.
"Nagkaroon talaga ako ng kumpyansa kasi nakauna kami. Kita naman na gustong gusto kong manalo para malift natin yung pangalawang Reyes Cup at siguradong sigurado ako yung mga teammates ko gusto ding manalo, lalo na si AJ Manas kasi di siya nakasama last year so sa tingin ko takam na takam siyang manalo," he said.
For his part, Manas also had an impressive debut for Team Asia, calming his nerves and proving that he belongs in this big stage.
"Syempre nakaka-pressure kasi ako yung pinakabata tapos first time ko sa ganitong event, pero na-handle ko naman ng maayos," said the 18-year-old prodigy.
Manas showed that when he took the table in the teams match, getting the first break and run that gave Team Asia the commanding 3-1 lead and kept that rhythm going in his 5-2 doubles win with Aloysius Yapp against the veteran pair of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Jayson Shaw.
"Malaking bagay sa akin yun na nakauna ako at break and run pa," said the online sensation.
Despite this big lead, Biado maintained that this isn't over one bit and Team Asia can only hope the breaks continue to go in their favor.
"Marami ding mali yung Team Rest of the World kaya alam namin na babawi sila. Sana lang magtuloy-tuloy pa ying magandang laro namin sa mga susunod na araw," he said.
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