The Europeans look forward to enthusiastic crowd for inaugural Reyes Cup in the Philippines.
Team Europe players Karl Boyes and Jayson Shaw expressed excitement for the anticipated Filipino crowd at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium for the four-day Reyes Cup beginning Tuesday, October 15.
Though not what most people expect as a spectator sport, the 9-ball pool competition will surely have Filipino fans flocking to the stadium to support Team Asia as they against Boyes, Shaw, and the rest of the Europeans.
While most of the crowd will be going against them, Team Europe captain Boyes said that he is excited to see what type of energy the local fans will bring.
“Yeah, I just hope the fans here in the Philippines have obviously watched the Mosconi Cup, or watch Johann Chua play last night in the [Hanoi Open] final and obviously, learned what the Vietnamese fans were like because even if the cue ball was going near the pocket they were all screaming, and shouting,” said Boyes.
“You know, they had so much knowledge and, whenever there’s lots of Pinoy players in the Philippines, the crowd have been very similar. So, I think it’s gonna be great,” he added.
[RELATED: Hanoi Open winner Johann Chua eager to show Asia’s mettle in Reyes Cup]
Shaw, for his part, wants to see good sportsmanship among the supporters and is eager to bring what he can to the table for the fans to enjoy.
“Yeah, I think, like you said, there’s gonna be a lot of fans here. Probably just here to see the event that’s on. But we know that a majority of them will be supporting Team Asia. But I’m sure they’ll be fair, and I’m sure they’ll be professional about it and everybody’s gonna have a good tournament,” said Shaw.
“Hopefully both teams can put on a good show and give the fans what they’ve come for.”
Shaw, and Boyes are joined by Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Mikey Krause, Eklent Kaci, and David Alcaide for Team Europe.
Meanwhile, Team Asia is captained by tournament namesake Efren “Bata” Reyes and bannered by Johann Chua, Aloysius Yapp, Ko Pin Yi, Carlo Biado, and Duong Quoc Hoang.