San Miguel Tour Down to Final 8
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Reyes Rules Jakarta Leg Of San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour
Efren “Bata” Reyes decided he wanted no more close finishes. Pouncing o­n three straight bad breaks by Yang Ching-Shun, Reyes cruised to an 11-6 victory over the fifth seed from Chinese-Taipei o­n Sunday to lift the crown in the second leg of the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour hosted by the Indonesian capital for the first time.
Pushed to the last rack in his first four matches, “The Magician” didn’t need to reprise his escape act against Yang, whose misfortunes began just when he had taken a 6-5 lead over the Filipino top seed—and o­n his birthday at that. With the Taiwanese star turning up two dry breaks and two scratches off the break in the last six racks, Reyes simply ran out the tables with the help of three brilliant 9 ball combos to pick up the $10,000 winner’s check and the glass trophy in the event organized by ESPN Star Sports.

San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour a Hit in Jakarta
Reyes Escapes Upset; Valle, Wu Advance to Quarterfinals
Number-one seed Efren “Bata” Reyes proved that he wasn’t just a magician—he also showed that he was an escape artist as well after surviving two close calls during the historic first day of the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour at the packed Hanggar billiard and Recreation Center in Jakarta.
The Filipino struggled past former World pool champion Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan 9-8, then came from behind to edge hometown bet Robby Suarly 9 – 8 in the second round and advance to the quarterfinals of the event organized by ESPN STAR Sports.
The player known as “The Magician” trailed Suarly 7-8, but the Indonesian made a crucial error in the 16th rack as the cue ball fell o­n the side pocket. Reyes then capitalized o­n his opponent’s miscue as he took the next two racks to close out the match. Reyes will meet Kuo Po Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the round of eight.

Yang Ching Shun Crowned Champion of San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour’s Hong Kong Leg
The Son of pool , Yang Ching Shun, was crowned the first Hong Kong leg champion o­n the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour after an 11-9 defeat of Hsia Hui Kai in an all-Chinese Taipei final, taking home $10,000 USD. The San Miguel Tour is the first-ever world-class 9-ball tournament to be held in Hong Kong. The tour will travel to Taipei for the fourth leg o­n May 7-9 with live coverage o­n STAR Sports.
Quarterfinal
Satoshi Kawabata was defeated by Efren Reyes twice at 3-9 in the quarterfinals of the last two legs, and his encounter with the Magician in Hong Kong still ended in defeat. The two players tied in the first 12 racks, but Reyes then took the lead and made his fourth consecutive semifinal appearance in the tour by winning 9-6.
Park Shin Young then suffered a shut-out by Yang Ching Shun in the other quarterfinal. The Korean player committed a few pocketing mistakes, while Yang cleaned the table three times. Yang then made his first semifinal appearance since the Singapore leg last year.

Hsia Hui Kai Makes his First Semifinal Appearance in the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour
First Hong Kong Leg Champion Set to Emerge Tomorrow
The San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour, the first-ever world-class 9-ball tournament held in Hong Kong, started today, April 17, 2004, with first two rounds of matches and the first two quarterfinals. “Stone Face Killer” Chao Fong Pang and “Assassin” Hsia Hui Kai, both from Chinese Taipei, book the first two seats in the semifinals tomorrow. The other two quarterfinals will be held tomorrow at the Hong Kong Football Club, starting at 12:00, followed by the race-to-11 semis and the final.
First Round
No big upsets occurred in the first round except the exit of Alok Kumar. The Indian player failed to make his third consecutive semifinal appearance in the tour as he wasted a 5-1 lead and lost 5-9 to Chinese Taipei’s Hsia Hui Kai.
Philippine players prevailed in the two Chinese Taipei-Filipino clashes in Round 1. Francisco “Django” Bustamante beat Wsang Hua Fong 9-5, while Antonio Gabica edged Fan Chi Sheng 9-6.