REYES

Efren “Bata” Reyes and Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan blasted separate opponents to reach the Final 16 of the 9-Ball banks division in the 12th Annual Derby City Classic Sunday at the Horse Shoe Casino Hotel in Indiana, United States.

Reyes thumped Kenny Weatherly in round 8 while Pagulayan defeated Kevin Nicolas in the same round as the Filipinos remained on track for the $10,000 (P48,000) top purse in one of the three events featured in the tournament.

The event also features 9-ball and One Pocket events which stake a combined cash prize of $40,000 (P1.9 million). The player who dishes out the best performance in the three events will be declared All Around champion.

With his win, the 55-year-old Reyes remained undefeated in eight matches while Pagulayan, the former world 9-ball and US Open champion has a 7-1 record.

Not as fortunate were Francisco “Django” Bustamante and last year’s runner up Rudolfo Luat, who were both eliminated with similar 6-2 slates.

Bustamante was beaten by Rafael Martinez while Luat bowed to Truman Hogue.

The 1999 Cardiff world pool champion, Reyes is looking for his first ever 9-ball banks title here – the only crown missing in his vast collection.

Since 1999, Reyes won the 9-ball event three times, One Pocket five times, and the all-around championship four times. Like Reyes, Pagulayan is also looking for his first 9-ball banks crown.