ALOYSIUS YAPP took control of the decisive fifth rack as he gunned down Jayson Shaw, 5-4, to give Team Asia a critical 3-2 lead over Team Europe in the inaugural Reyes Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Tuesday night.
The 28-year-old Singaporean Southeast Asian Games gold medalist showed nerves of steel in overcoming a gritty Mr. Shaw by sweeping the final rack in snatching the hill-hill win and giving the hosts the much-needed lead going into the final two days.
Mr. Yapp was also part of that second doubles match with former world 10-ball and 9-ball king Ko Pin Yi of Taiwan that bested the Spanish duo of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide, 5-2.
The other match that Team Asia won was Vietnamese Duong Quoc Hoang’s 5-3 victory over Albanian Eklent Kaci.
The Europeans averted what could have been a disastrous opening day as they rallied from 4-1 down in snatching a 5-4 win by a team of Sanchez Ruiz, David Alcaide, Mickey Krause of Denmark and Eklent Kaci over Filipinos Carlo Biado and Johann Chua, Alosius Yapp and Duong Quoc Hoang.
Mr. Shaw had a great start by seizing the first two frames thanks to a break-and-run in the second.
But Mr. Yapp fought gallantly back, took the third rack from 7-all and then leveled it at two after Mr. Shaw broke dry that allowed the former to take total control of the table.
Mr. Yapp did take control, 3-2, but Mr. Shaw tied the count again after a golden break in the sixth.
The two combatants alternated racks again with Mr. Yapp taking the seventh and Mr. Shaw the eighth before the Singaporean got possessed and dominated the winner-take-all rack.
The visitors’ other triumph came from Messrs. Shaw and Krause over Messrs. Chua and Biado, 5-3.
Action resumed in Day Two last night in this three-day, 21-match and race-to-11 tournament, which is being done in tribute to legendary Filipino Efren “Bata” Reyes. — Joey Villar