The Philippine International Convention Center (PICC)
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP Complex)
Roxas Blvd.
1307 Pasay City
Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel: (632) 551-7920 / 551-7415 / 551-6917
Fax: (632) 551-6372
www.worldpoolchampionship.com
www.2006worldpool.com
4-12 November 2006
Smiling Crosby Upsets Reyes in Thriller
FLORIDA-BASED former Englishman Tony Crosby caused a huge shock on the opening day of the 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship as he edged out national hero Efren Reyes in an 8-7 thriller at the PICC in Manila .
In front of a highly enthusiastic 600-strong crowd, both players had chances to win it before Reyes missed a simple 9-ball to effectively hand the match to Crosby .
“I was so happy when I drew Efren as I’ve never played him before and always wanted to play him,” said Crosby .
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“Win or lose I’d have been happy to have been there. But before the match I thought I’d win as I’d been playing well and I know I can beat anyone. I’d beaten St rick land, Hohmann, Sambajon so I knew I could mix it with the best.”
It was all Crosby for the majority of the match as 32 year-old Crosby built up a handy 7-4 lead against an off-form ‘Bata’.
At 7-4 down Reyes missed a simple black into the bottom left pocket leaving Crosby the 8 and 9 for a big upset. The American though missed a tight cut into the middle pocket and Reyes wrapped up the rack to take it to 5-7.
Crosby though, pulled off a top drawer shot in the next to clip the 1-ball in rail first and he then tied up Reyes in a tight snooker. Reyes escaped and Crosby lost the initiative as he left himself a hard shot on the blue 2. From there, the Filipino legend cleared to reduce the deficit to a single rack.
Reyes broke and ran the next to take the match to hill-hill but there was more drama in the final rack as nerves got the better of Crosby . He missed an orange 5 ball by inches and that left centre stage for Reyes to run out for victory in front of his adoring faithful but he missed the case 9-ball as the capacity crowd gasped in unison.
The 9-ball trundled toward the centre pocket leaving Tony Crosby the simplest of shots for the shock of the tournament so far.
He added: “I played good at the start but at 7-4 up I missed that 8 ball. Normally I make that but with the TV lights the cloth was a little slicker. I then missed that 4 ball by miles but that was nerves and pressure, said Crosby afterwards.
“When Efren was running out to win I felt a little embarrassed as I played a good match and only made a couple of bad shots. The people behind me were saying ‘well done, unlucky’ and to be honest I was thinking the same thing!
“When he missed the 9 though I was just praying that it was going to be easy and it turned out it was. This is by far the best place I’ve ever played a tournament and the excitement here is incredible. The crowd was so happy that I couldn’t help but laugh and joke with everyone.
“This has helped my chances a lot. Playing Efren first match has helped me a lot because you want to play the best player in the opener so you know where you stand. My chances of reaching the knockout stages have been given a huge boost.”
Reyes believed opposing players always raised their game when playing him. He said: “I lost some confidence after my opponent was able to make some tough shots. He got me at the beginning and the important thing is to win the lag. I still had a chance to win it in the last match but didn’t take it.
“I have to play better in the next two games if I want to go to the next round. Opponents always play best when they play against me so I have to be so careful.”
2006 Philippines World Pool Championship - Full Results
Day One – Saturday, November 4
Group 1
Wu Chia-ching (TPE) 8-0 Sven Pauritsch (GER)
Chan Keng-kwang (SIN) 8-5 Harold Rousseau (CAN)
Group 2
Efren Reyes (PHI) 7-8 Tony Crosby (USA)
Radoslaw Babica (POL) 1-8 Roy Apancho (INO)
Group 3
Edwin Montal (CAN) 6-8 Tomoo Takano (JAP)
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) 8-5 Andy Worthington (ENG)
Group 4
Alex Pagulayan (PHI) 8-2 Gustavo Espinosa (ARG)
Li He-wen (CHN) 8-1 Lee Kun-fang (TPE)
Group 5
Mike Davis (USA) 4-8 Fu Che-wei (TPE)
Marlon Manalo (PHI) 8-5 Nicolas Guimond (CAN)
Group 6
Ernesto Dominguez (MEX) 8-5 Dharminder Singh Lily (IND)
Kuo Po-cheng (TPE) 8-6 Roger Lysholm (NOR)
Group 7
Chang Jung-ling (TPE) 8-0 Tony Fransson (SWE)
Ralf Souquet (GER) 8-4 Leonardo Andam (PHI)
Groups 8 / 9 - There were no matches in these groups on Day One.
Group 10
Francisco Bustamante (PHI) 8-7 Jharome Pena (PHI)
Darren Appleton (ENG) 8-3 Prince Muhtadee Billah (BRU)
Group 11
David Alcaide (SPA) 8-4 Antonio Lining (PHI)
Mika Immonen (FIN) 8-7 Marco Tschudi (SWI)
Group 12
Enrique Rojas (CHI) 2-8 Lu Hsun-chen (TPE)
Rodney Morris (USA) 2-8 Joern Kaplan (GER)
Group 13
Jeong Young-hwa (KOR) 8-5 Roland Garcia (PHI)
Marcus Chamat (SWE) 8-6 Rudy Morta (PHI)
Groups 14 / 15 / 16 – There were no matches in these groups on Day One
Group 17
Earl Strickland (USA) 4-8 Vincent Facquet (nothing)
Chen Ying-chieh (TPE) 8-2 Chin Ju-chen (TPE)
Group 18
Takeshi Okumura (JAP) 6-8 Ryu Seong-woo (KOR)
Niels Feijen (NED) 2-8 Michael Schmidt (GER)
Group 19
Roman Hybler (CZE) 8-4 Bernard Tey Choon Kiat (SIN)
Chao Fong-pang (TPE) 8-3 Huidji See (NED)
Group 20
Patrick Ooi Fook Yuen (MAS) 5-8 Wang Hung-hsiang (TPE)
Imran Majid (ENG) 2-8 Evangelos Vettas (GRE)
Group 21
Rodolfo Luat (PHI) 8-7 Fu Jian-bo (China)
Oliver Ortmann (GER) 8-3 David Larsson (SWE)
Group 22
Masaaki Tanaka (JAP) 3-8 Roberto Gomez (PHI)
Corey Deuel (USA) 8-2 John Wims (IRE)
Group 23 - There were no matches in this group on Day One.
Group 24
Tony Drago (MAL) 6-8 Liu Cheng-chuan (TPE)
Jeremy Jones (USA) 8-2 Ceri Worts (NZL)
Group 25
Israel Rota (PHI) 4-8 Nien Rong-chih (TPE)
Alex Lely (NED) 4-8 Louis Condo (AUS)
Group 26 - There were no matches in this group on Day One.
Group 27
Toh Lian-han (SIN) 6-8 Hsia Hun-kai (TPE)
Vilmos Foldes (HUN) 8-1 Junaine Nicholas (RSA)
Group 28
Ronato Alcano (PHI) 7-8 Luong Chi Dung (VIE)
Christian Reimering (GER) 4-8 Marcel Martens (NED)
Group 29 - There were no matches in this group on Day One.
Group 30
Fabio Petroni (ITA) 8-3 Eduardo Villanueva (PHI)
Charlie Williams (USA) 8-6 Apsi Chaniago (INO)
Group 31
Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 8-2 Tan Tiong Boon (SIN)
Markus Juva (FIN) 8-2 Zbynek Vaic (RSA)
Group 32
Ramil Gallego (PHI) 8-4 Tepwin Arunnath (THA)
Daryl Peach (ENG) 8-6 Robb Saez (USA)
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