Reyes Cup
I just finished watching the conclusion of the inaugural Reyes Cup--a continental 9-ball teams match between Asia and Europe's top pool players. Team Asia won 11-6.
It's a landmark event for professional pool and I'm hoping it can help re-vitalize this long dormant cue-sport. You probably know close to nothing about the pro pool landscape so I'm going to spend the rest of this post giving a snapshot of the last 50 years. Let's start with the economics, which have been woeful.
In 1994, Efren Reyes--the Pinoy pool GOAT eponymous with said cup event--won the U.S Open and took home a 1st place prize of $15,000.
In 2024, Fedor Gorst won the U.S. Open and took home a 1st place prize of $50,000.
That's 233% growth in the span of 30 years.
Let's compare that to the U.S Open of golf.
In 1994, Ernie Els won $320,000. In 2024, Bryson DeChambeau won $4,200,000.
In that same 30-year timeframe, an increase of 1212.5%.
Maybe it's unfair to compare the two but let's face it... $50,000 for winning an event that signals you're one of the best in the world at a game that's over 500 years old just seems pathetic in 2024. Subtract travel fees, coaching fees, entry fees, and you'll see that the best pro pool players struggle to make more than your average NYC entry level finance/law/medicine worker. It's hardly glamorous. The sport has not grown at all at the top level.
There was a time where us 30-something milennials could remember watching pool on ESPN in the 1990s. What happened since then?
- No new TV contracts, possibly due to lack of sponsors for the game
- Fragmented professional circuit with multiple bodies of governance like WPA, PBT, IPT, etc.
- Anecodotal incidents that "delegitimized" pro pool. For example: a lot of old-timers cite the 1991 Challenge of Champions event where allegedly, the elite players secretly bet on a long shot named Mike Lebron and colluded to dump games and let him win. This supposedly led to the removal of gambling in pool in sports books. You can google that if you're curious, the actual match was on TV and then uploaded to Youtube. I watched it and yeah... I believe something fishy happened.
- Maybe cuesports just weren't meant to be popular in the modern age where physical sports and e-sports dominate the minds of people who care about competition.
#4 may be valid to some extent but in the game of Snooker, a cue sport played more frequently in commonwealth nations, top players are able to exceed $1 million annually in tournament winnings. It's a little niche area where a top sportsman can at least earn far more than an average worker, even if they fall short of golf/tennis level money. There are far more people in the world who play pool than snooker. Surely the game of pool can at least reach those attainable heights?
So here comes a company called Matchroom, led by a man named Barry Hearn. They are the same promoter responsible for growing the game of snooker. They are currently super invested into pumping money into pool and growing the game. They created the Reyes Cup, inspired by its sister-event, the Mosconi Cup--another 9-ball teams event featuring the best of USA vs. the best of Europe.
Let's talk about the Mosconi Cup and all 3 major continents of pool--North America (primarily the USA), Asia, and Europe. Enough economics, let's talk about the players.
For most of the 20th century, the United States produced most of the top pool players in the world. To name a few: Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Nick Varner, Mike Sigel, Johnny Archer, Shane Van Boening, and of course the eponymous Willie Mosconi himself, who was basically the Babe Ruth of pool during the 40s & 50s.
The Mosconi Cup started in 1994 and the U.S. by and large dominated, having won 10 of the first 12 Cups. The European teams often had to field snooker players who didn't routinely compete in pool. It was pretty clear that the U.S. set the standard in pool performance.
Things have changed a lot since then. As of this moment prior to the 2024 Mosconi Cup in December, the U.S. has lost 12 of the last 14 Mosconi Cups. They have completely lost their perch atop of the pool world. Now Europe is considered the continent where world class players are developed--players like Albin Ouschan, Josh Filler, Jayson Shaw, and Francisco-Sanchez Ruiz to name a few. For the last 8 years, I'd say they had 10 players who could contend for the world 9-ball championship, compared to the United States having only 1 player** (Shane Van Boening). Their B-team would be a considerable favorite against our A-team.
**This does not include the defection of Fedor Gorst--a 2x World Champ born in Russia and who has since 2023, represented America.
So where does Asia fit in all of this? Let's start at the beginning.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some unknown Filipinos started appearing on the U.S. pool circuit and they would quickly scoop up all the trophys. These 3 players? Jose Parica, Django Bustamante, and Efren Reyes. That was the beginning of the 'Filipino Invasion'. These 3 guys brought a totally different element to the game of pool. They had a wider array of trick shot skills and defensive wizardry to get out of 'impossible positions'.
This 'Invasion' is what I am able to trace as the "beginning" of the bigger development... the Phillipines alone currently being the #1 country of pro pool players. Maybe it's not fair to compare one country to an entire continent the way we have done in the context of the Mosconi Cup. But country for country, nobody can currently beat the Filipinos in terms of talent and depth.
Now I have to quickly explain to you what FargoRate is to give you an idea of scale. In short, FargoRate is pool's equivalent of a chess ELO score, a score built higher by beating the best. The Filipinos currently have 17 of the top 50 players in FargoRate, by far the most of any country. Their C-team could compete against any single country's A-team.
The rest of Asia is no joke either. Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, China/HK have all seen explosive growth in their talent pool in the 21st century.
So with the downfall of the USA and the rise of Asia and Europe, it was only logical for Matchroom to start thinking... why don't we have an event that's Team Asia vs. Team Europe and grow the audience globally? So boom. Reyes Cup. Here are the teams and I'll give you a small blurb about them.
Team Europe:
Jayson Shaw -- ultra talented Scottish player expected to be a dominant world #1 when he debuted but has kind of just settled into one of many great players, kinda like Rory McIlroy. Called 'Eagle Eye' for his ability to rifle in long shots. He's great for team events because he loves to play the shitheel role and rile crowds up.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (FSR)-- Spanish player who hadn't won much until 2022 when he caught molten fire, won multiple major events including the 8 and 9 ball world championships, and became world #1. Since then he's cooled off. Interestingly, he attributes some of his improvement to lasik surgery giving him "bionic eyes".
David Alcaide -- he's FSR's big brother mentor figure. More methodical/cerebral player. Won the World Pool Masters on a cool end-to-end long bank of the 9.
Eklent Kaci -- Albanian player with a huge break and power stroke. Was having a monster 2023 season until he broke his arm in a car accident. Runner up of the 2024 World Championship. Has some immature blow-ups sometimes.
Mickey Krause -- recent breakthrough Danish player who won the 2024 European Open. Cool nickname -- "The Viking".
Team Asia:
Ko Pin Yi -- The Taiwanese 2015 World Champ of 9-Ball with a graceful stroke at all speeds. Has two brothers also in pro pool, Ko Ping Chung and Ko Pin Han. The 3 of them do fun collorborative trick shots on Instagram.
Carlo Biado -- The 2017 World Champ of 9-Ball. At 40 years old, he's the torch bearer between the Invasion elders and the next generation of Pinoy wizards. Not the greatest ball potter but makes up for it with exceptional defensive play and cue ball artistry.
Johann Chua -- the current best-in-form Filipino player on the Matchroom circuit, having a career year in 2024 after a win at Hanoi Open. An offensive-minded momentum player--if he gets ahead early, take a seat and get comfortable.
Aloysius Yapp -- a strong Singaporean player who's come just short of major victory a few times. Ended up being MVP of the inaugural Reyes Cup, maybe a sign of things to come.
Duong Quoc Hoang -- best of Vietnam, a country where pool has EXPLODED in popularity in the last 3 years. Killer with the jump cue.
I'd pay an obscene amount of money just to play at their level for a few days. That's my little snippet for you on pro pool. You can watch free live matches or post-match highlights on YouTube via channels Matchroom Pool and Matchroom MultiSport.