OUR very own Filipino pool maestro Efren “Bata” Reyes is regarded as the greatest billiards player of all-time. He is one of the best, if not the best, to ever hold a cue stick.
Both here at home and abroad, the king of pool continues to enjoy immense popularity.
More popularly known as “Bata”, which is Filipino for “kid”, the pride of Angeles City, Pampanga – a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines – is known in the global pool circle as “The Magician” because of his jaw-dropping tricks and unbelievable shots.
He used to be one of the most dominant players in the US and world circuit. In fact, he holds the record of being the first non-American winner of the 1994 US Open Nine Ball Championship and the first player to win world championships in two different disciplines. Bata was propelled to international fame after defeating the likes of Earl Strickland, Mika Imonem, Marlon Manalo, Mike “the Mouth” Sigel, and Rodney Morris.
For sheer talent and guts, he was named by the United States Billiards Media Association’s (USBMA) best player of the decade, and the first Asian to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame.
He won more than 20 major men’s professional pool titles during the decade. He won four one-pocket crowns, four 8-ball titles and 15 9-ball awards.
Likewise, he was named by TIME as one of 60 Asian Heroes because of the way he changed the image of pool not only in his country but in the whole world.
However, the 60-year-old pool shark admits age is catching up with him as he finally yields to younger talent.
Neck pain, his eyes and even the strength of his arms can betray him in long matches, and he is weary after losing to wave after wave of hotshots.
The iconic player is man enough to say he’s no longer as invincible as before as he is now more prone to losing against younger opponents.
And unlike before when virtually no one wants to face him, today more young players want to play against him – which for Bata is a clear sign of how much his game has declined.
So now the charismatic Hall of Famer is considering retirement from the game. He is giving himself two more years before he finally calls it a career.
The former double world champion admits that those amazing shots that have earned him the mesmerizing monicker “The Magician,” are no longer what they used to be, and that his game has taken a dip over the past few years because of deteriorating eyesight.
In fairness, Bata still has the competitive fire and passion to play at high level, but his worsening sight problem has gotten the better of him.
He also blames the long hours of playing – sometimes until the wee hours – for the deterioration of his eyesight. In fact, these days he needs a longer time to take his shots since he has to look at the table many times over to prepare for the following shots.
Bata’s popularity reached its pinnacle when he became the first Filipino to win the World 9-Ball Championships in 1999. However, he has not won a major world title since teaming up with fellow legend Francisco ‘Django’ Bustamante for the World Cup of Pool in 2009.
Now that retirement is already on the horizon, Bata plans to go into coaching, a task which he is currently doing as one of the mentors of the women’s national billiards team that includes two-time world 10-ball champion Rubilen Amit.
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