AJ MANAS will have to find a way to get out of his rut after Day 1 of the Roobet Reyes Cup ended up in a deadlock at two matches apiece Thursday at Makati Coliseum.
Last year's MVP made a few blunders in the nightcap, allowing Team Rest of the World to even the score with Team Asia to close the first day.
Shane Van Boening and Fedor Gorst outclassed the upstart duo of Manas and Albert Januarta, 5-1, in their doubles match, as the American pair capitalized on 'Starboy's' miscues.
Manas found himself in a funk, as he made costly errors, first hanging the 6 on the corner in the opening rack before muffing the 4 in rack 2 to see the Americans follow up with a break-and-run to take the 3-0 lead.
He would then scratch after making the 8 in rack 5, and once again miss on his bank on the 2 in the next that paved the way for SVB and 'The Ghost' to run the table out.
Team Asia opens title defense
That forgettable showing erased what was a hot start for Team Asia which got the early lead after winning the team match, 5-3.
Carlo Biado made up for his missed 9 in rack 3 by winning a safety battle against Van Boening before clearing out the table in rack 8 to clinch the match.
Duong Quoc Hoang set the tone for the team match with a break-and-run in rack 1, while Manas also punished Aleksa Pecelj on the latter's missed 7 in rack 5 to make it 3-2.
Januarta followed it up with a golden break in rack 7 to put the Asians on the hill.
Biado and Robbie Capito would also get the better of Joshua Filler and Pecelj in their doubles match, 5-1.
Pecelj missed the 3 in rack 4 and undercut once more on the 8 in the next rack, as Biado put the match under wraps.
But the visitors would strike back.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz got Team ROW on the board after winning, 5-1, against Duong in the lone singles match of the night.
Capitalizing on Duong's five missed pots most painfully the 9 in rack 5, El Ferrari was razor sharp as he completed the gentleman's sweep.
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