AJ Manas thrives beneath stress in Reyes Cup debut as Staff Asia roars forward

Handpicked by Filipino legend and Staff Asia captain Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 19-year-old AJ Manas exhibits he belongs within the Reyes Cup

MANILA, Philippines – Scottish pool star Jayson Shaw warned Filipino teen prodigy AJ Manas was going to “really feel the warmth” in his Reyes Cup debut.

However Manas, the youngest participant of the event at 19 years previous, thrived beneath stress and helped Staff Asia race to a commanding 4-0 lead in opposition to Staff Remainder of the World as they swept the opening-day matches.

“In fact there’s stress as a result of I’m the youngest and that is my first time in this type of occasion. However I dealt with the stress so I used to be capable of play properly,” mentioned Manas.

Handpicked by Filipino legend and Staff Asia captain Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Manas confirmed he belongs with the large boys of pool, together with world nine-ball champions Carlo Biado and Fedor Gorst of the USA.

Within the group match, Manas accomplished a break and run as he by no means let American opponent Skylar Woodward get a shot on the desk.

Manas then teamed up with Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp within the first doubles on the best way to a convincing 5-2 victory over Shaw and Spain’s Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.

“There have been nerves as a result of lots of people have been watching and the matches have been brief — they have been solely race-to-five — so you can not make errors,” mentioned Manas.

“I additionally bought fortunate with the ball.”

Even Yapp admitted Manas did the heavy lifting in opposition to Shaw and Ruiz, who’re no strangers to group occasions, having gained the Mosconi Cup a number of occasions for Staff Europe.

“Actually, I felt like AJ carried me in that match. We knew we have been up in opposition to a pair with lots of expertise, however AJ confirmed maturity past his years,” mentioned Yapp.

Though comfortably forward, Manas and Staff Asia nonetheless have their work lower out for them of their bid to get to the eleventh level, with Staff Remainder of the World having till Sunday, October 19, to show its fortunes round. – Rappler.com