Asia wins the Reyes Cup again

Asia, led by the Philippines, has the best pool players in the world, in my opinion as a lifelong aficionado. I base it on the runaway victory of Team Asia over the Rest of the World (Row), by the score of 11-3 in a series of singles, doubles, and team matches, in the second running of the Reyes Cup, named for our very own champion Efren “Bata” Reyes, also known as the Magician.

Team Asia, with three Filipinos, a Singaporean, and a Vietnamese as players, and coached by a Filipino, won the Oct. 16 to 19, 2025 tourney by a running score of 4-0, 7-0, 9-1, and 11-3, over the Row team of two Americans, an Englishman, a Spaniard, and a German, coached by an American. This means that Team Asia blanked Row in seven matches on the first two days, won two of three matches on the third day, and won the Cup after four matches last Sunday, by eight points.

The Reyes Cup game is nine-ball, an event of the Matchroom World Nineball Tour, in partnership with Puyat Sports. It is patterned after the Mosconi Cup, a Team USA versus Team Europe affair, also with five players per team and a race to 11 match-wins. Each match is a race-to-five racks, with alternating breaks—all the players on either team are capable of a break-and-run, i.e., making a ball on the break and clearing the rest in the same inning.

The repeat victory required only 14 matches, compared to 17 matches in the 2024 Reyes Cup, when Team Asia beat Team Europe (which had no American player) by a four-day running score of 3-2, 7-2, 9-3, and finally 11-6, or a margin of five points (see my “The inaugural Reyes Cup,” inquirer.net, 10/19/24).

In 2024, Team Asia was captained by Reyes himself. Its five players were Carlo Biado and Johann Chua (Philippines), Aloysius Yapp (Singapore), Duong Quoc Hoang (Vietnam), and Ko Pin Yi (Taiwan). Yapp was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.

Team Europe, on the other hand, was captained by Karl Boyes (England). Its players were Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide (Spain), Jayson Shaw (England), Eklent Kaci (Albania), and Mickey Krause (Denmark).

After the large 5-point loss to Asia last year, Matchroom decided to reinforce the non-Asians in 2025 with Fedor Gorst and Skyler Woodward (USA) and Moritz Neuhausen (German), in place of Alcaide, Kaci, and Krause. With a new captain, Jeremy Jones (USA), it was renamed “Rest of the World.”

This year, Team Asia was captained by our countryman Francisco “Django” Bustamante, another former champion bilyarista. It had the same players as last year, except now including Albert James “AJ” Manas, in place of Ko Pin Yi, so the majority were Filipinos. The 18-year old AJ was named MVP, for defeating No. 1-ranked Gorst twice—one time was when Gorst’s shirt touched a ball on the table, which was careless.

On the women’s side, the Philippines also leads the world. This was seen at the 2025 World Pool-Billiard Association Women’s 10-Ball championship, in Bali, Indonesia, where Chezka Centeno defeated Rubilen Amit in the all-Filipina final last Oct. 12. It was Chezka’s second time to win, making her and Rubilen the only two players in the world with multiple wins.

The 9-ball tournament game has evolved. The diamond-shaped rack of nine balls, with nine in the middle, is now racked with “9” on the spot; this puts the “1” closer to the breaker and easier to sink, in a side pocket, on the break. For the next shot, the shooter is allowed a foul-free “push” to anywhere on the table, which the next player is free to accept or not; it’s in effect a challenge-shot.

There is a 60-second clock for the first shot after the break; it is 30 seconds afterwards. One 30-second extension is allowed per rack. Fouls include: violation of the time-clock; failure to strike the lowest-numbered ball; and touching any ball with one’s body, clothes, or equipment. A foul is penalized by ball-in-hand—a virtual gimme in world-class play.

A big difference from normal play is the very tight pockets, which seem to be only 4 inches wide (for the 2.25-inch balls). In a normal table, the pockets are at least 4.5 inches wide, double the size of the balls.

The Philippines Open Pool Championship started on Oct. 21st, and concludes today, Oct. 25th. The first prize is $30,000. There are 128 players, competing in single-elimination, i.e. one loss and out. So many of the Reyes Cup players joined it. The last 16 as of yesterday has 10 Filipinos, including AJ Manas, and six foreigners including Jayson Shaw. Abangan.

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Contact: mahar.mangahas@sws.org.ph.