INQUIRER Sports

SOMETIMES IT?S FUNNY HOW a gifted cue artist like Efren ?Bata? Reyes describes an almost trouble-free victory as merely a matter of getting the right breaks.

Reyes teamed up Rubilen Amit as Team Philippines A subdued Japan?s Hayato Hijikata and Kaori Ebe with relative ease, 7-4, Tuesday night at the start of the World Mixed Doubles Classic at the Nuvo City Lifestyle Center in Libis, Quezon City.

The only time the extremely talented duo of Reyes and Amit was threatened was when the Japanese knotted the count after eight frames.

Reyes? triple-rail attempt missed the hidden yellow ball by a hair, allowing Hijikata, a former runner-up in the 2005 World Junior 9-Ball Championship in Austria, and Ebe to clean up the table for a 4-4 tally.

Hijikata, however, bungled the chance to turn the tables on Team Philippines in the ninth set after his carom shot on the first ball rattled on the corner.

Reyes and Amit simply cleaned up the table before cruising smoothly in the next two racks.

?We?re just lucky enough to get those breaks,? said Reyes in Filipino. ?We saw the opportunity and grabbed it when they missed the first ball in the ninth set.?

Team Europe?s Mika Immonen and Borana Andoni subdued Hijikata and Ebe in the opening match, 7-5, while Charlie Williams and Eunji Park of Korea pulled off a 7-4 win over USA?s Shane Van Boening and Amy Chen.

Immonen is coming off his World Ten Ball Championship victory over Lee Vann Corteza Monday night that allowed the hotshot from Finland to claim his second consecutive major title this year.

The six teams in the $12,000 event presented by Nuvo Land Philippines and Dragon Promotions and supported by Puyat Sports, ABS-CBN Sports, ESPN-Star Sports are divided into two groups.

The tandem of Reyes and Amit represented Team Philippines A, which was bunched with Team Europe and Team Japan in Group A while the Team Philippines B of Lee Vann Corteza and Fil-Am Shanelle Loraine, Korea and USA comprised Group B.