NEWS - 10-11-03 World Classic Billiards Championship – Reyes shows a superb performance




For the second time, a pool tournament was played in the Emirate Fujairah with international participation. 16 invited players and 16 players from the qualification tournament played for the first time for the 9-Ball title of the United Arabic Emirates. The promoter was visibly committed to offer the best possible conditions to the players. With the support of Doug Gordon and Brenda Smith, who are normally responsible for the tour in the United Kingdom, the tournament was very well organized. Michaela Tabb from Matchroom acted as the chief referee and took care of a everything during the matches.

In round 1, I played against a qualifier from the Philippines and the new „Middle-East Champion” L. Saberoo. After shooting 5 aces at the beginning, my opponent succeeded in everything. But I managed to keep my advance for a final score of 11-6. There were only two victories for non-seeded players. The results:

Round 1

T. Hohmann – Matanwa 11-6
S. Knight – R.D. Souza 11-7
S. Tot – J. Percy 11-3
D. Anderson – Y. Yaqoob 11-3
F. Bustamante – H.A. Hanni 11-3
I. Majid – A. Fahem 11-5
G. Dunn – A. Kareem 11-3
R. Souquet – L. Saberoo 11-6
E. Reyes – S. Abdoula 11-5
K. Hew – S. Khan 11-2
Syeed – O. Salem 8-11
A. Lely – A.A.A. Amari 11-6
F. Petroni – M.A. Ashee 11-8
M. Chamat – M. Nassel 11-3
D. Alcaida – M. Tolentino 5-11
E. Strickland – K.A. Motairi 11-6

In round 2, against Scotsman G. Dunn, I had a slow start and was trailing 1-6 and 2-7.
But then, I came back into my game and finally entered the quarter-finals with a 11-8 win. The results:
Round 2

Hohmann – Knight 11-9
Tot – Anderson 8-11
Bustamante – Majid 11-4
Dunn – Souquet 8-11  
Reyes – Hew 11-10
Syeed – Lely 6-11
Petroni – Chamat 11-9
Tolentino – Strickland 9-11  


In my match against Bustamante, once more a lot of things did not work out well. I could do whatever I wanted, but even after a successful break, I couldn’t even see the lowest numbered ball on the table. On top of this, Django had a good run and benefited finally from another two mistakes of mine. All together, I never had a chance to win this match.
In the quarter-finals, we had the following results:
Round 3

Hohmann – Anderson 11-4
Bustamante – Souquet 11-5
Reyes – Lely 11-8
Petroni – Strickland 9-11

In the semi-finals, we saw two very different matches. The first semi-final between T. Hohmann and F. Bustamante started on a very high level for both players. After 4-0 in favour of Hohmann, Django equalled at 4-4. But then, both players did not demonstrate their best billard and committed both a number of mistakes. At the end, the player from the Philippines won with a bit of luck 12-10 and entered the final. Here, his country fellowman E. Reyes was waiting for him. With a world class performance, he had defeated the World Champion of 2002, E. Strickland, with the score of 12-0. At the beginning, Reyes was a bit lucky with two rail shots, but these shots allowed him to fully enter his game. Then, we saw pure perfection. Strickland didn’t stand the slightest chance and entered the final, much to the pleasure of the around 300 Philippine supporters in the hall.
Rounde 4

Hohmann – Bustamante10-12  
Reyes – Strickland 12-0  


The final was as positive for the Magician. He played again at his best level and didn’t leave too many opportunities to his country fellowman. At the score of 9-3 for Reyes, the match was interrupted for almost an hour and a half, because the reigning sheik of the Emirate Fujairah had announced his venue and the organization did not want to have him arrive when the tournament was already over. After the arrival of the sheik, the match continued and Bustamante didn’t do too much to make it too difficult for his friend and mentor to win the match 13-4. Right after the final, the party was moved to the neighbouring hotel for the medal ceremony, where, beside the buffet, the sheik distinguished a lot of people. At the end, the President of the WPA, I. Anderson, announced the good news that the federation had concluded a contract with the federation of the United Emirates to organize during the next 5 years the World Championships in 8-Ball in the Emirate Fujairah.

                                        Final:   Bustamante – Reyes  4 - 13