EFREN 'Bata' Reyes is assured of a medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games after beating Thongchai Punyawee of Thailand, 100-37, in the one-cushion carom on Wednesday at the Manila Hotel Tent.
Reyes advanced to the semifinals with the victory, assuring the legendary Pinoy pool master of at least a bronze medal.
A capacity crowd showed up at the makeshift billiards venue to witness the 65-year-old Reyes in action in a game more popularly known as 'karambola' among Filipino players.
Reyes will be facing Ngo Dinh Nai of Vietnam in the semifinals. Ngo drew a bye in the first round of the competition that only drew seven players.
The fans were just happy to see Reyes in action, even though the match didn’t actually show the brilliant shotmaking that ‘The Magician’ was long known for.
Reyes said he could've made short work of the Thai had he been in top form for the event, where the object is to hit two balls using the cue ball on a single shot.
“Hindi nga ginanahan ‘yung mga nanonood lalo na ‘yung mga nagsipunta rito para panoorin ‘yung mga tira. Hindi gumana,” said Reyes.
“Ibig sabihin, dapat ‘yung laban na ‘yun, sandali lang ‘yun ‘yung 100. Ilang tirahan lang. Eh ang dami naming tira bago namin natapos ‘yung 100,” he said.
The win assured Reyes of duplicating his feat in 2015 when he won a medal, a bronze, in the Singapore SEA Games.
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