Efren Reyes was invited to Norway this weekend by the owners of a poolhall in the city of Bergen, to play in the Bergen Open 9-ball.
110 players entered this handicap-event, with $ 100 entryfee and about $ 2000 added. Players got games on the wire based on their skillevel, and could get as much as 6 games on the wire in this race to 9-format.
I brought with me my two nephews aged 12 and 13, and my mother and father, to watch the legend. A week ago I got confirmed that my two nephews could play Efren a small race to 3 in 9-ball each on Friday night, and they could barely sleep the days before the event.
They have been watching him play almost every minute all weekend, and even my mum and dad now understand why I'm so fascinated of this player.
It was AWESOME finally having him visit Norway, and from he came on Thursday and till today, he has been playing non-stop. Either tournament, or 100 $ challengematches with whoever wanted. There were big lines of players waiting to play him, and Efren only lost 1 of all the challenge-matches, and that was a race to 3 match which he lost 3-2.
As usual he had dozens of "Efren-shots" during these days, and when he played my youngest nephew he kicked and banked like a wild-man and made a good show out of it.
When he was waiting for his match in the single elimination he came over to talk with me, and soon a group gathered around and then we grabbed a table and asked him if he could show us some magicshots he has made in tournaments. That was great, he put balls on the table, told us how he made this and that, and let people in the crowd try the shots with his guidance. That was priceless, with lots of laughs, applause and many happy people
I then set up a 6 rail kick shot for him which he made in a commercial I had seen. He looked at it, grabbed a cue and then fired it in on his first try :thumbup:
As for the tournament, he "raped" everyone, except Vegar Kristiansen in the final, who managed to play perfect and win 9-3 over Efren. Still, a good week for Efren. I'm pretty sure he cashed several thousands of dollars just by playing short races with us dumb Norwegians
Vegar Kristiansen is not well-known, because he "never" plays outside Norway, but during his career he has managed a 3rd in the World 9-ball Championship, won an Eurotour and have a personal high of 257 in 14-1, so he's not completely lost
One last thing. My mother and my nephew got their hair done on Saturday morning, and it turned out that the 3 young girls working there were Filipinas. My mum was shocked by the reaction of them when they heard Efren was in town, and just a few hours later they were in the audience with their Filipino-friends, watching Efren, getting autographs and pictures. Today they brought more friends to watch him. Efren really IS a rock-star in Philippines, and I bet you can't find many Filipinos not knowing who Efren is
110 players entered this handicap-event, with $ 100 entryfee and about $ 2000 added. Players got games on the wire based on their skillevel, and could get as much as 6 games on the wire in this race to 9-format.
I brought with me my two nephews aged 12 and 13, and my mother and father, to watch the legend. A week ago I got confirmed that my two nephews could play Efren a small race to 3 in 9-ball each on Friday night, and they could barely sleep the days before the event.
They have been watching him play almost every minute all weekend, and even my mum and dad now understand why I'm so fascinated of this player.
It was AWESOME finally having him visit Norway, and from he came on Thursday and till today, he has been playing non-stop. Either tournament, or 100 $ challengematches with whoever wanted. There were big lines of players waiting to play him, and Efren only lost 1 of all the challenge-matches, and that was a race to 3 match which he lost 3-2.
As usual he had dozens of "Efren-shots" during these days, and when he played my youngest nephew he kicked and banked like a wild-man and made a good show out of it.
When he was waiting for his match in the single elimination he came over to talk with me, and soon a group gathered around and then we grabbed a table and asked him if he could show us some magicshots he has made in tournaments. That was great, he put balls on the table, told us how he made this and that, and let people in the crowd try the shots with his guidance. That was priceless, with lots of laughs, applause and many happy people
I then set up a 6 rail kick shot for him which he made in a commercial I had seen. He looked at it, grabbed a cue and then fired it in on his first try :thumbup:As for the tournament, he "raped" everyone, except Vegar Kristiansen in the final, who managed to play perfect and win 9-3 over Efren. Still, a good week for Efren. I'm pretty sure he cashed several thousands of dollars just by playing short races with us dumb Norwegians
Vegar Kristiansen is not well-known, because he "never" plays outside Norway, but during his career he has managed a 3rd in the World 9-ball Championship, won an Eurotour and have a personal high of 257 in 14-1, so he's not completely lost
One last thing. My mother and my nephew got their hair done on Saturday morning, and it turned out that the 3 young girls working there were Filipinas. My mum was shocked by the reaction of them when they heard Efren was in town, and just a few hours later they were in the audience with their Filipino-friends, watching Efren, getting autographs and pictures. Today they brought more friends to watch him. Efren really IS a rock-star in Philippines, and I bet you can't find many Filipinos not knowing who Efren is
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