JOHANN Chua may have had his fair share of struggles in the Reyes Cup, but he has been an invaluable part of Team Asia especially with how he crafted the lineups for each match.
The recently crowned Hanoi Open champion shared that it was no less than the great Efren “Bata” Reyes who delegated to him before the start of the team tournament the job of deciding who will play when for Team Asia.
“Champ Efren gave that role to me,” he said.
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“I feared that with this being our first time, we don’t know what will happen so we wanted to feel it on the first day. Luckily, what I thought of Team Europe’s lineup was what exactly happened and I figured that out. So after we got the first day, I knew I could put Ko [Pin Yi]and Carlo [Biado] in the singles events on the second day and we could put the pressure on them.”
Safe to say, Chua’s intuition has worked wonders with Team Asia firmly ahead of Team Europe, 9-3 - just two matches away from claiming the inaugural crown of the team event patterend after the Mosconi Cup.
“My team really played well and we got to vibe together. After losing the first team match back on the first day, we practiced and I talked to them and you can see that everyone played really well and that gave us a boost in confidence,” he said of the quintet, which also included Aloysius Yapp and Duong Quoc Hoang.
Chua, however, must also deliver on the table especially with the final day set on Friday.
His singles match against Spain’s David Alcaide could very well be the decider, especially if Team Asia once again captures the team match to open the day.
The 32-year-old Bacolod native acknowledges the heavy burden placed on his shoulders, but he's ready to rise to the occasion.
“I’m excited. I know it may add up a little bit of pressure because it’s gonna be on my match but I try to stay focused,” said Chua. “We expect to win. But the job is not done. We still have work to do, but I’m confident that we’ll get the win.”
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