Magician Reyes reaches semis<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Top seed Efren Reyes of the Philippines won his quarterfinal
\nmatch against Kuo Po-Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the second leg of
\nthe San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour at the Hanggar Billiard and
\nRecreation Center here on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Three-time world 8-ball champion Reyes defeated Kuo 9-8 to set
\nup a semifinal match against 16-year-old Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese
\nTaipei, who edged out Wanshana Poomjaeng of Thailand 9-2.<\/p>\n
Another semifinal match will feature Satoshi Kawabata of Japan
\nagainst Yang Chin-Sun of Chinese Taipei.<\/p>\n
Kawabata thrashed Toh Lian-Han of Singapore 9-8, while Yang
\neked out a 9-6 win over Singapore first leg winner Gandy Valle of
\nthe Philippines in earlier quarterfinal matches.<\/p>\n
Reyes and Kuo brought their game to the limit to tie the score
\nat 8-8.<\/p>\n
Kuo could have sealed the game in his favor. He missed a shot
\nat the ninth ball in frame 17, allowing Reyes to pull off the
\nfinal winning strikes for a 9-8 victory.<\/p>\n
As Kuo rued the missed chance, Reyes, nicknamed The Magician,
\nbroke in relief after he had looked to be struggling earlier.<\/p>\n
\"I played badly in the beginning but I got better later on,\"
\nReyes said after the match.<\/p>\n
\"I was also lucky as he missed the ninth ball in the last
\nrack.\"<\/p>\n
Looking ahead for his semifinal match, Reyes said Wu was a
\nyoung talented player who had been improving a lot recently.<\/p>\n
The two players met three times last year, all finishing in
\nReyes' victories.<\/p>\n
Wu savored his quarterfinal win over Poomjaeng in the match
\nwhich lasted for 50 minutes.<\/p>\n
\"I played very well, while my opponent couldn't use his
\nopportunities when he made his shots,\" Wu said.<\/p>\n
Despite a poor record against Reyes, Wu was relishing the
\nchallenge this time around, being spurred by his surprise win
\nover 1993 world 9-ball champion Chao Fong Pang in the second
\nround.<\/p>\n
\"I already defeated Chao, and I will defeat Reyes,\" the first-
\nleg finalist said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Valle, who won the first leg of the Asian Tour by
\nbeating Wu 11-9, conceded his out-of-sort performance in the
\nquarterfinals.<\/p>\n
\"I just played badly,\" he said shortly after the match.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the semifinals of the second leg of the San Miguel
\nAsian 9-ball Tour will start at 9:30 a.m., followed by the final.<\/p>",
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