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Shocks, Drama, Excitement And Tantrums
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THE 2006 Philippines World Pool Championships enjoyed a cracking opening day full of drama and shocks.
Undoubtedly, the biggest upset came in Group Two where Filipino legend and tournament favourite Efren Reyes is now in danger of failing to make the last 64 after suffering a shock 8-7 defeat against American Tony Crosby.
Reyes, who won the 1999 World Championship, was cheered on by a large capacity crowd of more than 600 people at the Philippine International Convention Center but appeared to be nervous as he missed a number of comfortable shots and that proved costly as Crosby benefited from the opportunity.
If Reyes (pictured right) suffers a defeat against Poland's Radoslaw Babica then the number two seed faces the prospect of being eliminated from the competition in only the second day.
Crosby played his part in a thrilling encounter and gained many fans himself by visibly savouring every moment of the match. He said: "I was so happy when I drew Efren as I’ve never played him before and always wanted to play him.
“Win or lose I’d have been happy to have been there. This is by far the best place I’ve ever played a tournament and the excitement here is incredible. The crowd was so happy that I couldn’t help but laugh and joke with everyone.
“Playing Efren first match has helped me a lot because you want to play the best player in the opener so you know where you stand. My chances of reaching the knockout stages have been given a huge boost.”
Elsewhere, there were shock defeats for American Rodney Morris who was beaten 8-2 by Joern Kaplan, England's Imran Majid who went down 8-2 to Evangelos Vettas, while Holland's Niels Feijen lost by the same scoreline to German Michael Schmidt.
Earl Strickland's match against Vincent Facquet ended in controversy as Strickland, who was trailing 7-4, was handed a formal warning from referee Nigel Rees for consistently fiddling with his cue case while Facquet was playing.
However, Strickland then said: "I don’t care, I’m out of here" and stormed off stage before the end of the final rack to hand Facquet an 8-4 victory.
Filipino Francisco Bustamante trailed 5-4 against gutsy qualifier Jharome Pena but eventually recovered to win 8-7 although there were far more comfortable victories for Alex Pagulayan and Marlon Manalo, against Gustavo Espinosa and Nicolas Guimond respectively.
Prince Muhtadee Billah, son of the Sultan of Brunei, one of the richest men in the world, made his debut in the World Pool Championships but could not gain a victory as England's Darren Appleton proved too strong and won 8-3.
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