LOOK what you've done, Starboy.
AJ Manas' star just grew a whole lot brighter as he thrived under the bright lights in Day Two of the Reyes Cup 2025, powering Team Asia to an overwhelming 7-0 lead against Team Rest of the World on Friday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The 18-year-old sensation stole the show, sweeping all of his three matches for the day in an impressive performance to somehow silence his doubters.
READ Biado keen to ride the momentum of Team Asia's fiery start
"Oo naman, tingin ko napatunayan ko [na I belong here] pero stay humble pa rin tayo," said Manas.
So comprehensive were the Asians' showing that the last two matches for the day: the singles match between Duong Quoc Hoang vs. Skyler Woodward; and the doubles pitting Carlo Biado and Aloysius Yapp against FSR and Moritz Neuhausen were set aside for day three.
Team Asia was able to recover after falling from a 0-2 hole in the team match, stringing four straight racks to turn the tables and get to the hill.
Jayson Shaw kept Team Rest of the World's hopes going with a runout that made it 4-3, but Francisco Sanchez Ruiz failed to pot the 3 and the 4 in the next rack, opening up for Manas to clean up the table and take the 5-3 win.
Luck continued to be on Manas' side in his singles match against Fedor Gorst as the world No. 1 got called for a foul when his shirt touched the 7-ball in his hill-hill affair. That gave the Filipino sensation the ball in hand and pocketed the last four balls to earn the 5-4 victory.
His pairing with Johann Chua also delivered the goods, rallying from a 1-2 deficit against the duo of Gorst and Shaw as the Filipino duo won the next four racks to claim the 5-2 conquest and send the stunned crowd home happy.
Chua was pivotal in that doubles match, hitting two insane jump shots to pocket the 3 and 4 in rack 6, and did it once more when he made the 2-ball in rack 7.
In all of those, Manas had the privilege of sealing the match as he potted the 9 as the great Efren "Bata" Reyes watched from the crowd.
"Yung huling tatlong laban, siya ang huling tumira nun," Chua said of Manas, proud of this career-defining night for the youngster.
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