Team Asia opens Reyes Cup title defense with 4-0 sweep

Team Asia kickstarted their Reyes Cup title defense with a commanding 4-0 lead after day one at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 16.

Filipinos Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, and AJ Manas delivered in their home crowd alongside Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp and Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang as they got off to a thunderous start in the best-of-11 tournament.

In the team match, the Asians reminded everyone why they’re the defending champions, as Biado and Duong spearheaded a 5-1 triumph, with Yapp being the only one to squander a rack.

Manas then silenced all the doubts about him being picked by non-playing captain Django Bustamante for the tournament as he, alongside Yapp, trampled Team Rest of the World’s Jayson Shaw and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, 5-2, in the duo match.

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A PERFECT DAY INDEED ❤️‍🔥👌🏻

Carlo Biado shared how proud he is of his teammates, who all share the same hunger to defend their title after notching a perfect Day 1 against Team Rest of the World in the 2025 Reyes Cup. | via Maureen Muarip/One Sports#ReyesCup #WNT pic.twitter.com/lJoF1l0fbT

— One Sports (@OneSportsPHL) October 16, 2025

Yapp lauded Manas’ performance, saying that the 19-year-old’s maturity paved the way for the victory.

“Honestly, I felt like AJ carried me in that match,” Yapp said. “We knew we were up against a pair with a lot of experience, but AJ showed maturity beyond his years. He proved today that experience doesn’t always decide the result — what a debut from him.”

It was World Champion Carlo Biado’s turn to shine as he outplayed Moritz Neuhausen, 5-3, in the singles match to put Team Asia ahead 3-0.

With the score tied 4-4 in the second duo match, Rest of the World’s Fedor Gorst and Skyler Woodward had a chance to snatch a game against Duong and Chua, but a costly foul by the world No. 1 in the final rack allowed the Filipino to ice the game, 5-4.

Biado said he is satisfied with his performance and Team Asia’s opening day performance, but remained wary of complacency for the rest of the tournament.

“I’m happy with the win and proud of the way Team Asia performed today. The job’s not done yet, though; we’ve got to keep the same energy tomorrow,” he said.

Team Asia will seek to continue their momentum on day two on Friday, Oct. 17.

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