Asia successfully retained their Reyes Cup title after inflicting an emphatic 11-3 rout on the Rest of the World, as the undefeated teenage rookie AJ Manas earned the MVP award in Manila, Philippines.
Francisco Bustamante’s Asia coasted to a second successive title, as Aloysius Yapp, Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Duong Quoc Hoang and AJ Manas displayed incredible togetherness to seal the $100,000 prize for the winning team.
It was a damning defeat for the Rest of the World, captained by Jeremy Jones, with world number one Fedor Gorst, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Jayson Shaw, Skyler Woodward and Moritz Neuhausen all struggling against an energised Asian outfit.
Asia were commanding from the outset and mounted an unassailable 7-0 advantage following the opening two days, with Filipino phenom Manas notably stunning world number one Fedor Gorst and then impressing in a doubles win over Gorst and Jayson Shaw alongside Johann Chua.
German rookie Moritz Neuhausen got the Rest of the World on the board in Saturday’s team match, which was followed by him and his teammates amusingly jumping on the table to celebrate their first point.
However, a convincing Duong Quoc Hoang victory over Skyler Woodward followed by a whitewash win for Carlo Biado and Aloysius Yapp meant that Asia required only two points on the final day.
Yapp, who received the MVP award following last year’s inaugural edition, punished Shaw’s early errors and moved Asia onto the hill with a comfortable win, before the Rest of the World showed their spirit.
Shaw and Woodward, usually Mosconi Cup rivals, impressed as a pairing and dispatched Yapp and Duong, before Sanchez Ruiz battled back from 3-0 behind to beat Chua, who agonisingly hooked himself in the final rack.
Having witnessed the Rest of the World claw back two points, Biado and Manas, Asia’s two stand-out players, delivered the killer blow, producing a clinical and composed showing to brush aside Gorst and Neuhausen and seal Asia’s successful title defence.
It was rather appropriate that compatriots Biado and Manas sealed the title-winning point as both players enjoyed unbeaten campaigns and played an integral role in Asia reigning supreme in such commanding fashion.
Having been taken to the cleaners by the Asian team, the Rest of the World now become rivals once again ahead of the Mosconi Cup taking place from December 3-6 at London’s iconic Alexandra Palace.
