Do you ever wonder how Roberto Gomez picked up that "Superman" monicker?
It is all because of the Magician himself, Efren "Bata" Reyes! Read on!
New pool magic from ex-newsman
By Recah Trinidad/Inquirer
Last updated 11:16pm (Mla time) 11/10/2007
Manila, Philippines --They have to wonder why, of all things, he is called
Superman.
Unknowing experts would stop asking only after Roberto Gomez, a former
newsman from Zamboanga, blotted out a European pool star to enter the
quarterfinals of the 2007 World Pool Championship close to midnight Friday
at the Araneta Coliseum.
There has never been such a feat in the history of the tournament, WPC
officials said.
Naturally, there was stunned silence, followed by wild cheers, as the
29-year-old assumed a place no great names in the tournament has ever
reached following an incredible 11-0 dismantling of the respected Niels
Feijen of Netherlands.
But more than the shutout, it was the cool control that saw the vibrant,
thick-chested Gomez clearing up racks with surgical precision Friday that
formally ushered in what could be the biggest, brightest new name in world
pool hereabouts.
"I just try to do my best always, that?s the best that I know," Gomez told
the Inquirer.
With his hard-earned clinical sharpness, Gomez has also succeeded in
taking away the agony, while bringing back sweet excitement for fans with
painless, often impeccable operation on the felt table.
Of course, there were those who readily doubted Gomez's gifts and claimed
he could've been favored mainly by lucky breaks.
But yesterday, Gomez followed up his sizzling conquest of Feijen with a firm
11-4 drubbing of Taiwanese Kuo Po-cheng.
The conquest of Feijen was flawless, perfect; the beating of Kuo
unforgiving.
Gomez battled back from a 0-4 deficit to enter the final with an 11-4
stoppage of Karl Boyes of England.
Gomez, father of one, said he handled his first cue stick in his hometown in
Zamboanga shortly before he turned 10 - and that was it.
Unlike many young heedless pool parlor habitues, Gomez, son of a school
teacher, went on to finish a course in mass communications.
But he decided to quit his job as a reporter with ABS-CBN in his province
and instead turned to playing pool full time.
For the record, Gomez said it was Efren "Bata" Reyes, his idol and model,
who nicknamed him Superman.
"But this was only because I loved to wear Superman t-shirts when I
played pool," he said.
Yesterday, after the hysteria and the victory stampede, there was nobody
to wonder again whatever happened to The Magician.
They were absorbed with the golden, smiling presence of the stocky
wunderkind with a dint of gold in his locks; he who plays his favorite
boyhood game with winning painless precision.
Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/sports/view_article.php?article_id=100154
It is all because of the Magician himself, Efren "Bata" Reyes! Read on!
New pool magic from ex-newsman
By Recah Trinidad/Inquirer
Last updated 11:16pm (Mla time) 11/10/2007
Manila, Philippines --They have to wonder why, of all things, he is called
Superman.
Unknowing experts would stop asking only after Roberto Gomez, a former
newsman from Zamboanga, blotted out a European pool star to enter the
quarterfinals of the 2007 World Pool Championship close to midnight Friday
at the Araneta Coliseum.
There has never been such a feat in the history of the tournament, WPC
officials said.
Naturally, there was stunned silence, followed by wild cheers, as the
29-year-old assumed a place no great names in the tournament has ever
reached following an incredible 11-0 dismantling of the respected Niels
Feijen of Netherlands.
But more than the shutout, it was the cool control that saw the vibrant,
thick-chested Gomez clearing up racks with surgical precision Friday that
formally ushered in what could be the biggest, brightest new name in world
pool hereabouts.
"I just try to do my best always, that?s the best that I know," Gomez told
the Inquirer.
With his hard-earned clinical sharpness, Gomez has also succeeded in
taking away the agony, while bringing back sweet excitement for fans with
painless, often impeccable operation on the felt table.
Of course, there were those who readily doubted Gomez's gifts and claimed
he could've been favored mainly by lucky breaks.
But yesterday, Gomez followed up his sizzling conquest of Feijen with a firm
11-4 drubbing of Taiwanese Kuo Po-cheng.
The conquest of Feijen was flawless, perfect; the beating of Kuo
unforgiving.
Gomez battled back from a 0-4 deficit to enter the final with an 11-4
stoppage of Karl Boyes of England.
Gomez, father of one, said he handled his first cue stick in his hometown in
Zamboanga shortly before he turned 10 - and that was it.
Unlike many young heedless pool parlor habitues, Gomez, son of a school
teacher, went on to finish a course in mass communications.
But he decided to quit his job as a reporter with ABS-CBN in his province
and instead turned to playing pool full time.
For the record, Gomez said it was Efren "Bata" Reyes, his idol and model,
who nicknamed him Superman.
"But this was only because I loved to wear Superman t-shirts when I
played pool," he said.
Yesterday, after the hysteria and the victory stampede, there was nobody
to wonder again whatever happened to The Magician.
They were absorbed with the golden, smiling presence of the stocky
wunderkind with a dint of gold in his locks; he who plays his favorite
boyhood game with winning painless precision.
Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/sports/view_article.php?article_id=100154
