European captain Karl Boyes has reflected on a frustrating start to their inaugural Reyes Cup campaign, revealing that the camp is quiet after falling 7-2 behind following the opening two days in the Philippines.
Aloysius Yapp secured a win over Jayson Shaw in Tuesday’s final match to give Asia a narrow 3-2 lead overnight, but the Asian team completed a clean sweep on Wednesday to gain a seemingly unassailable five-point advantage.
Vietnamese wildcard Duong Quoc Hoang has proven to be particularly impressive for the Asian team in Manila, with Efren Reyes’ team punishing the Europeans for each and every mistake they have made.
“Now we know what the Americans have felt like for a few years when everything’s been going our way,” Boyes told Window’s Open. “We lost a few brutal points, and we’re just in a bad spot, aren’t we? It is what it is.
“Obviously it’s like anything in any sport, when you’re losing it’s not nice, when you’re winning it’s like the best thing in the world, isn’t it?
“So no one’s saying much. We might be saying, ‘oh he had a bad roll there, he’s getting lucky’, but when you look back we’ve missed a lot of opportunities.”
Europe are competing in the inaugural Reyes Cup having won each of the last four editions of the Mosconi Cup, but they headed to Manila without the withdrawn Joshua Filler, who was named MVP twice during that period.
Boyes praised European Open champion Mickey Krause, who is making his debut in European colours this week, but believes too many mistakes at crucial moments have hindered his team’s hopes.
“Everything seems fine, everyone’s getting on great,” Boyes added. “Obviously it’s just a tough environment. We’re playing in the Philippines. We’re so used to playing in America in the Mosconi Cup and that sort of feeling. We’ve just done silly things.
“I think Jayson and Mickey have played really well. Kaci’s been out of sorts – obviously he got to the final of the World Championships, then he took a few weeks off, months off rather, and if you’re not playing matches and winning proper matches, you’re going to struggle and he’s really struggled.”
Europe have a tough task on their hands as they attempt to recuperate and recover from a five-point deficit on Thursday and Friday in Manila.
