IPT Pool Fan Blog

Efren Reyes: Few people expected anything other than a top 10 finish or thereabouts for Efren Reyes. The undisputed king of the modern game cuts an imposing figure at the table by reputation and then almost always proceeds to follow it with brilliant pool. During the IPT North American Open, Reyes started out like he meant business by winning all 4 of his first round group matches without being troubled. Gabe Owen was potentially a tricky match to face early on, but Reyes brushed him aside 8-3 en route to the second round. I thought Reyes' 2nd round group was tough. Facing his long-term adversary, Francisco Bustmante and to a lesser extent Dee Adkins was far from easy and add Phil Harrison and Andreja Klasovic (both had done well in round one) into the mix and potential existed for a shock. In the end Reyes lost only to Adkins and beat his compatriot to be placed 2nd in his group. In two of those matches he had 5 break and run-outs. In his third round match-ups he had to contend with Earl Strickland, Lohtander, Abood and Hundal - again not an easy group, but arguably not much worse than his previous round. Once again Reyes was unbeaten in this section and although only Hundal was trounced (8-1), Reyes was clearly in pretty good form and had the winning habit. Reyes though finally found a real problem in round four where once again he tussled with both Bustamante and Owen, as well as Sambajon, Putnik and Hill. All of these players were playing well and this was an extremely difficult group. Again he triumphed over Bustmante, but it was his two 8-7 victories over the unlucky Hill and Sambajon which saw him through in the end. His defeats to Owen and Putnik could well have proved more costly, but in the end, he scraped through on win percentage. Round five was Reyes back on song. He won all 5 games just when he was perhaps beginning to seem vulnerable. Hann and Nevel were beaten comfortabley and whilst Appleton gave him a closer run than he might have expected again Reyes managed to win two hill-hill encounters over Luat and the emerging Russian, Stalev. Suddenly Efren Reyes was into the final six, just where everyone expected him to be. Quite whether fatigue set in on that fateful final day, or whether the great man just had an off day we can only guess, but the bare facts of the matter show that he could only win 2 out of 5 matches and place 4th for $65,000.

VERDICT: Reyes lived up to expectations and was in right at the death with a chance to win it. He has shown he can cope with the new kids on the block (as ever) and will be a major force on the IPT. As lethal at 8-ball as he has been at 9-ball. One slight question mark may be his ability to endure such a schedule at his age.

Earl Strickland: Even before the event got underway, Earl Strickland was complaining. His initial complaints centred around the short races, which he appeared to feel gave 'lesser mortals' more of a chance. To my knowledge no other player voiced such concerns. Earl Strickland was 19th and won $17,000 - not a bad return for a guy who claims he has been playing badly for many years now. He has not of course- I have seen him play quite brilliantly at times in the last decade, but he seems unable to be consistent enough to make it count. Earl lost a match in his 1st group - to Teddy Garrahan by 8-7, but he won his other 3 for a comfortable enough qualification. A similarly straightforward group for Earl in round two again saw him lose once, this time to Jonathan Pinegar but his record of 4 wins in 5 matches was looking good and who wants to peak too early in the week anyway? Earl's third round display was more impressive and he began to look as though he may be strong enough to challenge. He lost only to the majestic Reyes and beat Abood, Hundal and Lohtander to make it through to the real money stages. At this point he found a tough group and he could not cope with it. A horrible display of petulance, ungentlemanly and downright nasty behaviour against Van Den Berg (a match he won) left a bad taste in most viewers' mouths. An amazing 8-1 success against Quinten Hann could not save Earl who lost to Adkins and Alcano (8-7) and was hammered 8-3 by eventual winner Thorsten Hohmann.

VERDICT: It is too early to write Earl Strickland off. I have a feeling we will see him in a final six at one of these IPT events before much longer. I do feel that unless he finds consistency then he is no match for the likes of Hohmann, Reyes, Manalo and Bustamante and will struggle against many top Europeans and Filipinos. His attitude to his opponents seems to be getting even worse if that is posssible and he is losing focus on the job in hand. One things is for sure, Earl will not be content with 19th place.

More to follow......