With the help of our good friend Allan Chua from Thailand, pool fans in Bangkok were given a rare treat a couple of weeks ago. The one and only pool legend, Efren "Bata" Reyes was invited to do a tour around Bangkok to showcase his talent and play a couple of friendly racks with fans as well as play a couple of exhibition matches.
On the first day of the tour, Molly Malone's, a lovely Irish Pub hosted us for dinner and Efren played some racks with the patrons of the place.
After that, we were ushered out to another place, this time a proper pool hall instead of a pub and the atmosphere was electric! Loads of pool fans were waiting for Efren and we also bumped into a bunch of Filipinos which is always a good thing.
This kid caught Efren's attention immediately. It looks like more and more young players are being developed in Thailand!
There were some interesting Murals all over the walls at Hustler's.
What do you think of this Jassy?
Several players challenged Efren to a rack and this girl actually did better than a lot of the others...or maybe Efren was nicer to her?
Lovely crowd at Hustlers.
The second day brought us to a new Pub called The Game. This time, I suggested that we play 8-ball instead of 9-ball and make it three racks for each of the participants so that they get better chances. (I kinda felt bad for those who didn't get a shot in from the previous night since it was only one rack each).
Efren played with several people and even joined two rounds of killers which he both lost!
I had my usual fish n' chips (I know, I know that's not really Irish). And of course, how could we resist a proper ice cold San Miguel Beer. This one is brewed and bottled in Thailand!
Everything was perfect until I ordered some water and they brought me this. Oh my. what a mistake. I guess, I'm sticking to the beer all night!
The last day of the tour was dedicated to challenge matches. Efren was scheduled to play against top Thai player Kobkit Palajin and Stuart Petman
Efren 15-5 Kobkit
Stuart went barefoot for most of the match!
In the end, Efren outclassed both players and won easily. We were treated to a great celebration af a place I dare not mention.
It was a great trip and I hope that everyone in Bangkok enjoyed it as much as we did. Thanks again to Allan Chua for arranging everything. Special thanks to Molly Malone's, Hustlers, The Game, our driver One and Toshi for the lovely pictures.
