Exhibitions: Reyes vs. Blomdahl and Ceulemans

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Efren Reyes just defeated Torbjorn Blomdahl 8-2 in an exhibition 10-ball match. [They decided to switch from the originally planned 9-ball.]

It was a quick 42-minute match, with Reyes making three mistakes -- a poor safety on the 1-ball in Game #2, fouling in Game #7 by missing the object ball on a kick, and missing the 3-ball in game #9. Otherwise he played well.

Blomdahl missed four shots but showed some decent pocketing and safety play.

Next up -- Reyes vs. Ceulemans in 71.2 balkline billiards.
 
Reyes squeeked by Ceulemans 100 - 95 in 16 innings (15 for Ceulemans) in 71.2 balkline billiards tonight.

The lead changed hands a half dozen times. High runs were 21 by Reyes and 18 (twice) by Ceulemans. Scoring, inning by inning, went as follows:

Reyes: 3, 0, 9, 14, 0, 11, 4, 9, 21, 4, 0, 1, 8, 11, 0, 5.

Ceulemans: 2, 0, 18, 11, 5, 6, 18, 0, 0, 6, 0, 6, 11, 12, 0.

Interestingly, Torbjorn Blomdahl was commentating, and he said that when the player who played first (Reyes in this game) is the first one to reach game points, the other player is normally given an equalizing inning to try to tie. Both players were at 95 when Efren ran his last 5, but they ended it there.

It certainly was an interesting game to watch.
 
TSW said:
How many boxes are there on the table for 71.2 balkline?
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Six. Three lines are drawn -- one down the center of the table length-wise and two across the width of the table two diamonds from each end. That creates four squares at the ends and two rectangles in the middle.

The 71 in the game's name refers to the lines being drawn 71 centimeters away from the rails.
 
AtLarge said:
Six. Three lines are drawn -- one down the center of the table length-wise and two across the width of the table two diamonds from each end. That creates four squares at the ends and two rectangles in the middle.
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Interesting, thanks. Standard 10x5 carom table?
 
This was a great match (coming from a rotation player..). I now have the urge to play on my room's heated 3C table and try some of the shots I saw in this game. Its been a few years since I played 3C, and I never tried balkline...
 
As a side note this form of Balklineis Different than the on talked about by LAlouie on another thread. 71.2 has one line drawn longways down the middle with two other lines drawn side to side 71 mm from the ends. This makes six large boxes. The form of Balkline that Caudron has run over 300 is in 47.2 where the lines are 47 mm from the cushions creating smaller boxes and better chances for long runs. both disciplines can be viewed on Caudron videos from the French Company Kazoom.
 
thebark said:
As a side note this form of Balklineis Different than the on talked about by LAlouie on another thread. 71.2 has one line drawn longways down the middle with two other lines drawn side to side 71 mm from the ends. This makes six large boxes. The form of Balkline that Caudron has run over 300 is in 47.2 where the lines are 47 mm from the cushions creating smaller boxes and better chances for long runs. both disciplines can be viewed on Caudron videos from the French Company Kazoom.
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Yeah. I don't profess to know the nuances between the different formats. I can't play the game, too dumb to play the game, too untalented to play any billiard game. But Efren's 198 was in 18.1

Anyway, the point was give these great billiard players their due instead of dismissing them as if Efren will win everything he plays.
 
Hi guys, I've read several posts about Efren and Balkline in this and other threads, and I keep seeing an important distinction missed in all of the arguments...err, discussions :) That distinction is between a person's 'favorite' game and their 'best' game.

Just because you enjoy a particular game the most doesn't mean you're the best at it, and vice versa. In fact, I think there's a good argument to be made that a person is more likely to enjoy a game that they're not the best at, because it presents more of a challenge to their abilities and creativity with greater room for improvement.

My inspiration for the Ceulemans-Reyes Balkline exhibition idea came from this 2008 IPT interview with Efren that I posted about a few years ago. In it, Efren makes a pretty clear distinction between Balkline being his favorite game vs Rotation and One Pocket (after 1 year) being his better games "as a player". I've never heard Efren claim Balkline was his best game, and the interview suggests he's careful not to.

Robert

p.s. That interview was simply a great find for English-speaking Efren fans, in general. Although I've seen several extended Filipino interviews online with Efren, the usual English Efren interviews consist mainly of "I'll try my best" (before matches) and "I got lucky" (after winning them). After hearing Efren get lucky for 20+ years, it was nice to hear something more in depth in a language I could understand :)
 
Robert Raiford said:
... Efren makes a pretty clear distinction between Balkline being his favorite game vs Rotation and One Pocket (after 1 year) being his better games "as a player". I've never heard Efren claim Balkline was his best game, and the interview suggests he's careful not to. ...
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Right you are, Robert. And I appreciated your commentary on all three of the exhibition matches.
 
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