Team West makes historic win for first Kings Cup title
- Jamil Buergo
- Nov 24, 2015
- 5 min read
In a tournament pitting the best players from Europe and USA (Team West) against the champions of Asia (Team East), the West team displayed superb form and unity throughout the tournament as they toppled their counterparts, 10-8, in the inaugural Kings Cup Tournament produced by Dragon Promotions held at the Resorts World Manila.
Headed by Finnish Mika "The Iceman" Immonen, West team had USA's number 1 Shane Van Boening, veteran Darren Appleton of UK, and rookie Albin Ouschan. Team East had Filipino pool icons Efren "Bata" Reyes (team captain) and Francisco "Django" Bustsamante, and Taiwanese brothers Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung.
The three-day tournament featured singles, doubles, triples, and four-on-four 10-ball matches. All matches are race to 5. Each day, there will be six matches played and the first team that reaches 10 wins takes home the title. If the score reaches 9-9 on day 3, a final four-on-four game will be played to decide the champions.
Both teams were equally excited to play in this unique tournament format. For Immonen, he feels quite different as he gets to play with teammates whom he usually faces in other tournaments. But he stressed the best thing about his team is that they all speak English thus communication wouldn’t be a problem for them.
For veterans Reyes and Bustamante, playing at home definitely is an advantage but admits they still feel the pressure. “Kahit naman noong araw pa may pressure na dumaraan sa amin. Lalo na ngayon naakatakot ang mga kalaban namin” (Even before, I still feel the pressure. Especially now we’re up against tough opponents) says Reyes. “Pero kapag nag-init na, nawawala na rin ang nerbiyos” (But once things heat up, pressure subsides) he added. Bustamante couldn’t agree more. Django further emphasizes the need to have a good start to somehow ease the pressure. “Talagang nakakanerbiyos ang una. Pero kapag nakalamang na kami, nawawala yun kaba.” (First part is always scary. But once we take the lead early, pressure dies down) says Bustamante. “Pero kapag dikit ang laban, diyan lalabas na ang mga arthritis namin saka yun mga nginig namin. Kaya dapat makauna kami para gumanda yun mga tira namin” (But once the score is close, we get to feel our arthritis and jitters. That’s why it’s important that we play well early to get our confidence going) he added.
In Day 1, Shane Van Boening shone for Team West as he led his team to take a 4-2 lead over Team East. The two-time World Pool Masters champion played 4 of the team’s 6 matches and won 3 of them highlighted by his nerve wracking 5-4 win over Django Bustamante in the fifth game. Shane also sealed the first win of Team West as he made the 4-to-10 combination to take the four-on-four match, 5-2, in favor of Team West.
Both Efren Reyes and Django Bustamente struggled for form as both of them lost all the matches they were part of. In one of the anticipated matches of the evening, the Filipino pool legends paired up against Darren Appleton and Albin Ouschan. The game was close as both teams engaged in a 2-2 deadlock before Team West took the next three racks enroute to a 5-2 victory.
The Ko brothers from Taiwan made a good account of themselves as they provided the wins for the Asian team. The duo paired up in the second match and beat Van Boening and Mika Immonen. Ko Pin Yi then took on Darren Appleton in a singles match and won 5-0.
On the second day, Team East played with some sense of urgency as they buckled down to work early led by Ko Ping Chung as the Asians caught up with Team West, 5-5, before bowing down with 2-straight losses in the end to finish Day 2, 7-5.
Ko Ping Chung of Taiwan completely dominated Albin Ouschan in a singles match, 5-0, with the 20 year-old youngster from Taiwan making all of his shots. He later teamed up with Efren Reyes as they beat the tandem of Darren Appleton and Shane Van Boening, 5-3.
In the other singles match, East captain Efren Reyes took an early 4-0 lead before West captain Mika Immonen tried to make a comeback racking up 2 straight wins. But a miss on the 9-ball in the seventh rack paved the way for Efren Reyes’ first win in the tournament.
The triples and 4-on-4 matches went to Team West’s favor , 5-2 and 5-3 respectively, as they clearly showed they are working as a team compared to Team East. Communication (or lack of it) seemed to be a problem for Team East as they hardly talk to each other during their matches. But team captain Efren Reyes was quick to downplay such problem as he said he knows the individual capabilities of his Taiwanese teammates. “Senyas lang pwede na!” (We’re ok with making signs) said Reyes.
In the last match of Day 2, captains of both sides chose Ko Pin Yi and Shane Van Boening to play a singles match. Van Boening, who lost to Ko in the World 9-ball championships 2 months ago, was able to get some revenge as he totally outclassed Ko Pin Yi, 5-0.
Day 3 was a night to remember for this debuting pool tournament. Leading 7-5 coming into day 3 of the tournament, Team West almost had it earlier with Darren Appleton’s 5-4 singles victory over Ko Ping Chung, Team West’s 3-on-3 win over East, 5-4.
Then the match of the tournament happened. West had its foot on the championship door as it was on its way to shutdown East with a commanding 4-0 lead. Visibly distraught, the Asians were ready to pack their things and call it a night but Team West gave chances to them. Apparently gaining confidence by winning 2 straight racks, Team East continued to pounce on every mistake West had, including an all-important miss on the 9-ball in the eighth rack that East took advantage of that evened the match 4-4. In the ninth rack of the 4-on4 match, Team East were already communicating with each other more often, something that was sorely missing in their previous team matches. That proved crucial, as they were able to steal the match to complete an incredible comeback and deny Team West of getting the title early.
With the win, Team East’s confidence went up as they were able to snatch another victory via captain’s pick match. Since the East is trailing, tournament rules allowed their captain to select who plays in the next game. Captain Reyes wasted no chance as he selected World No. 1 Ko Pin Yi and Albin Ouschan, who was struggling all-day long, as his opponent. Ko won the match easily 5-3.
Another captain’s pick match (3-on-3) seemed beneficial for Team East as Efren let Django and the Ko brothers go up against Immonen, Appleton, and Oushcan. “No Shane! No Shane!” said Reyes as he didn’t want Shane, who was Team West’s best player in the whole tournament, play in the crucial game. However, luck ran out of Team East’s side as the West team broke from a 3-3 deadlock to take the match 5-3 and the Kings Cup Title.
Shane Van Boening was adjudged as the tournament’s best player as announced by Charlie Williams, Executive Producer of Dragon Promotions. The reigning World Pool Masters champion ironically won a competition with his Mosconi Cup rivals from Europe.
The Kings Cup was hosted by the award winning Resorts World Manila Casino & Hotel and produced by Dragon Promotions. Other partners of the event are Rasson Table, Andy Cloth, Viking Cue, and Cyclop Balls. Pool & Billiard Magazine, and Billiards Digest are also co-sponsors.
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