Efren “Bata” Reyes fell short against longtime rival Earl “The Pearl” Strickland, 6-11, on the second day of the WNT Legends at the Gateway Mall in Quezon City on Thursday.
Unlike in their famous “Color of Money” match in Hong Kong back in 1996, there was no comeback from Reyes as Strickland, 64, dominated the match from start to finish.
The 71-year-old Reyes admitted facing “The Pearl” was such a treat in this three-day tournament by Matchroom Pool and Puyat Sports led by its president, Aristeo “Putch” Puyat, who is also the chief of the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines.
“Congratulations to Earl — he was the better player today. Of course, I’m disappointed with the result, but it was special to share the stage with him again,” said Reyes, who will face Ralf Souquet of Germany in the bronze medal match on Friday.
“I’m looking forward to my match against Ralf tomorrow and I’ll be backing Django to win the final for our country.”
As for Strickland, facing Reyes through the years taught him to be careful in his style of play.
“You’ve got to remember that Efren’s seven years older than me, okay? Let’s don’t forget that. He’s still playing a remarkable role for his age, but you can see that his age shows up on certain shots and he decelerates, and I do the same thing but I’m not quite as bad as him yet, you know what I mean? But I’ll be there,” Strickland said.
“I still think Efren plays phenomenal and he can still put fear in a guy. That’s what I like about him.”
Strickland will face Francisco “Django” Bustamante in the final despite losing to Souquet, 10-11, earlier in the day.