2026 Reyes Cup - October 15-18

[Cleveland_Rocks]

Alright. So the Mosconi Cup was the staple for 30 years of world billiard competition, it took the place of the Ryder Cup and/or the Olympics in pool. Then the Asian based players said "Hey! We are better than you Americans and Europeans, the Mosconi Cup is meaningless without us on the world stage".

They even named the other team "Rest of the World", an open challenge that we are the best players in the world.

Will the "Rest of the World" get smoked again this year?

 

[SA96]

If SVB, Filler, Gorst and FSR can't compete vs Asia then you might as well scrap the event.

I am super interested to see the odds for this.

If the bookmakers make ROW underdogs, I am lumping on.

Wonder who the last ROW player will be?

 

[couldnthinkof01]

They only say that because they have home field advantage

 

[sjm]

Alright. So the Mosconi Cup was the staple for 30 years of world billiard competition, it took the place of the Ryder Cup and/or the Olympics in pool. Then the Asian based players said "Hey! We are better than you Americans and Europeans, the Mosconi Cup is meaningless without us on the world stage".

They even named the other team "Rest of the World", an open challenge that we are the best players in the world.

Will the "Rest of the World" get smoked again this year?

When Team "Rest of World" showed up without SVB and Filler, the 2025 Reyes Cup was already over. The event was completely unwatchable.

To be fair, Team Asia might smoke Team ROW again this year, but if they do, let's hope that politics won't have diluted Team ROW the way they did last year, when Matchroom shot itself in the foot and ruined the event.

As an event, the Reyes Cup has yet to deliver. With or without the Reyes Cup, we all know how great the Asian pool players are.

... and yet, for what it's worth, Asia hasn't looked better than Europe in the two events played in Asia over the past two weeks. At the World 10 ball in Vietnam last week, all four semifinalists were European. At this week's Bali 10ball, Mi Le, who will play in the final shortly, was the only Asian in the semis, joined by three Europeans. Let's add that not even one Asian has won a WNT major in 2026.

 

[skogstokig]

filler will make a difference, no doubt, but i still think team asia will win.

 

[Rocket354]

Wonder who the last ROW player will be?

It's Matchroom. Shaw.

I'd like to see Woj, or Kaci (for multiple reasons).

 

[HawaiianEye]

If the TOP Asian players were selected without politics, I think the Asian team would be the favorites.

I think politics in the Reyes Cup favors stacking the team with Filipino players.

There are many better players in Taiwan, China, and other parts of Asia.

 

[Rocket354]

If the TOP Asian players were selected without politics, I think the Asian team would be the favorites.

I think politics in the Reyes Cup favors stacking the team with Filipino players.

There are many better players in Taiwan, China, and other parts of Asia.

The Ko brothers don't seem interested in pool any more. What other Asian players are clearly better than Biado and Chua (who might be another defector)? Yapp is up there for sure...but any Asian team chosen without politics should have at least two Filipinos, even with the Ko brothers.

If that was just a dig against AJ, then I agree.

 

[SA96]

It's Matchroom. Shaw.

I'd like to see Woj, or Kaci (for multiple reasons).

I would rather have Shaw in a team event.

Woj is untested and Kaci has been horrible in the Mosconi Cup and Reyes Cup.

Shaw performs best when the atmosphere and pressure is cranked up.

 

[skogstokig]

The Ko brothers don't seem interested in pool any more. What other Asian players are clearly better than Biado and Chua (who might be another defector)? Yapp is up there for sure...but any Asian team chosen without politics should have at least two Filipinos, even with the Ko brothers.

If that was just a dig against AJ, then I agree.

chua is out, with the kos. biado, jefrey roda maybe if you go for solid player. they have to have played all but two major events right? add in januarta if you want youth, then yapp and capito. 10-7 to team asia.

 

[Rocket354]

chua is out, with the kos. biado, jefrey roda maybe if you go for solid player. they have to have played all but two major events right? add in januarta if you want youth, then yapp and capito. 10-7 to team asia.

I think they like representation. So Biado, Yapp, Duong for sure. Then any two of: Capito, Wu, Januarta, even perhaps Oi, and any of the ranks of 800+ Filipinos since they are from the host country. (Edit: Upon further reflection, I think MR loves AJ. He'll be there again. Carlo, Yapp, Duong, AJ, and Capito is my guess.)

They could really make things interesting and throw Chezka in there.

 

[AtLarge]

... Kaci has been horrible in the Mosconi Cup and Reyes Cup. ...

Well, Kaçi played in just one of the two Reyes Cups and went 0-1 in singles and 0-2 in doubles. But in his 5 Mosconi Cups he is 5-2 in singles and 6-6 in doubles. That's rather decent.

 

[HawaiianEye]

It wasn't a dig against anyone.

I think the top Chinese and Taiwanese players outplay the Filipinos.

 

[skogstokig]

It wasn't a dig against anyone.

I think the top Chinese and Taiwanese players outplay the Filipinos.

yes, but the top 2 chinese and dito taiwanese play on the duya9 tour (heyball tables) and are therefore not eligible by WNT rules. wu jiaqing, xiaohuai zheng and the ko brothers. the third ko brother does too, but he doesn't count.

 

[HawaiianEye]

yes, but the top 2 chinese and dito taiwanese play on the duya9 tour (heyball tables) and are therefore not eligible by WNT rules. wu jiaqing, xiaohuai zheng and the ko brothers. the third ko brother does too, but he doesn't count.

I am not talking eligibility.

I am talking playing abilities.

 

[skogstokig]

I am not talking eligibility.

I am talking playing abilities.

the taiwanese list drops off quite a bit after the ko brothers. there's wu kun lin, yu lung chang (pushing 50) and a then maybe two players above 800. taiwan has lacked rejuvenation, which may be changing but that obviously takes some time.

chinese is provingly filled with contenders. one tried his hands at a predator event this week and went to the final (just lost to filler). but there's simply better pay in duya. seems they have a whisky sponsor now with deep pockets, that made wu $1.4 million richer..

 

[BMC361]

In 2024, the Philippines defeated Taiwan (Ko brothers) 14–6 in the CPBA 9‑Ball Teams Invitational, marking a major win for Filipino pool players on the World Nineball Tour

Thread 'Taiwan vs Philippines'

May 27, 2024

Looks like next stream start at 3am est....

2024 CPBA 9-Ball Teams Invitational 5/27-29】@Taipei Taiwan

5/28 Day 2
Order of play (GMT +8)

1st match 15:00～16:30 Singles (1 point)
Chang Jung Lin vs. Carlo Biado

2nd match 16:40～18:10 Singles (1 point)
Chang Yu Lung vs. Jeffrey Ignacio

3rd match 18:20～19:50 Singles (1 point)
Wu Kun Lin vs. Bernie Regalario

4th match 20:00～21:30 Doubles (2 points)
Ko Pin Yi/Ko Ping Chung vs. Johann Chua/James Aranas

• jax_joe
• Replies: 9
• Forum: Main Forum

• 

 

[jay helfert]

As much as I like the Pinoy/Asian players, I think they are underdogs this year against a stacked ROW team. Nothing like last year!

It's the real deal.this time around. Should be a lot more competitive than the MC. I'll be there sweating it.

Wonder what the prize money is?

 

[sjm]

A big problem is that non-WNT events are excluded from consideration in the selections, so Team ROW will likely go to bat without Szewczyk, the WPA #1 ranked player in the world.

Filler and FSR are both at the top of their game right now, and Gorst just won the China Open, so that's three players that are formidable. SVB has been a little off since his win at the WNT Florida Open, but if he finds his form again, he'll also be a very tough out. Were Szewczyk to be their fifth, team ROW would be very strong, but I don't see it happening, and I don't see anyone else that will perform close to his level right now.

If Szewczyk is omitted, as a fan of Team ROW, I think I'd like to see David Alcaide selected. He was 3rd in the US Open 9ball, just won the WPA World Doubles Championship with partner FSR, and is a consistently strong performer at the Mosconi Cup. He is very much a player in form right now.

I think this year's Reyes Cup will be close, but my hunch says Asia will defend unless Szewczyk joins Filler, FSR, Gorst, and SVB on Team ROW.

 

[jbart65]

A big problem is that non-WNT events are excluded from consideration in the selections, so Team ROW will likely go to bat without Szewczyk, the WPA #1 ranked player in the world.


If Szewczyk is omitted, as a fan of Team ROW, I think I'd like to see David Alcaide selected. He was 3rd in the US Open 9ball, just won the WPA World Doubles Championship with partner FSR, and is a consistently strong performer at the Mosconi Cup. He is very much a player in form right now.

If it's not Shaw, the obvious choice to me is either Moritz Neuhausen or Kledio Kaci. The team needs a little youth.

Neuhausen won the European Open this year, but Kaci has been more conistent throughout the season. Won some smaller ranking events and has had a lot of deep runs.