Riding on the heels of Manny Pacquiao being hailed "Fighter of the Decade," Efren "Bata" Reyes brings pride to country as the United States Billiards Media Association (USBMA) names him the Best Pool Player of the Decade (2000-2009) by unanimous decision, reports GMA News.
The 55 year-old "Magician" garnered the most number of votes in the USBMA poll, topping other candidates such as two-time world champions Johnny Archer of the USA and Ralf Soquet of Germany, and the world's No. 1 player Mika Immonen of Finland.
According to the international Billiards website, AZBilliards, Reyes swept over 20 major men's professional pool titles in the last ten years. Those wins include four one-pocket crowns, four 8-ball titles, fourteen 9-ball titles, and three Derby City All-Around titles. His biggest wins came in 2005 and 2006 when he bagged 765,000 US dollars in the now defunct International Pool Tour.
In 2003, Reyes was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Hall of Fame, and has since earned 1.7 million US dollars, excluding the 47,500 US dollars he won during the 12 Annual Derby City Classic in Indiana last week, according to the Manila Bulletin.
Aside from these merits, the Bulletin reports that Reyes was also the very first Filipino to win the World Pool Championship tiara for 9-ball in 1999 at Cardiff, Wales.
