INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines – Despite his recent defeat to Ronnie Alcano, legendary pool icon Efren “Bata” Reyes vows to become more visible, which should please Filipino fans here and abroad.

Reyes, who goes by his moniker “The Magician”, lost to Alcano in last week’s Manny Villar-sponsored 15-ball rotation duel called “Challenge of the Legend: The Maestro versus The Volcano”.

Alcano won the match, 9-4, in the race-to-9 showdown held at SM North in Quezon City.

Alcano is proving to be a worthy nemesis for Reyes, whom he booted out in the 2006 World Pool championships on his way to bagging the title.

Reyes, the 1999 World 9-ball champ, also bowed to Alcano in the opening round of the Japan 9-ball Open last year.

Fans, however, have been wondering about Reyes’ absence in recent tournaments lime the recent RP 10-ball Open, won by Indonesian Ricky Yang.

“I cannot join all the tournaments and there are only few that I can join much as I want to. But with the help of Senator Villar, you’ll be seeing me more often,” Reyes said in an interview with INQUIRER.net

When not competing in tournaments, Reyes either plays chess or otherwise enjoys a much-needed break at home.

Despite his absence, Reyes says he is glad seeing younger Filipino players carving a name for themselves in the world of pool, singling out newly-crowned women’s 10-ball world champ Rubilen Amit.

Amit defeated Shin-Mei Liu of Taiwan in the recent Women’s World 10-ball championships to become the country’s first female world champion in pool.

“Rubilen has always been a good player but she just lacks sponsor to give her more exposure to different tournaments,” said Reyes.

It won’t be difficult for Amit to get sponsors now that she has proven her worth as a world champion.

Reyes sees more promising, younger players to carry the Philippine colors in international tournaments and follow an illustrious crop of the Filipino pool players led by him.

“I hope they will continue to dedicate themselves and become better,” he said.