From Duong to Gorst: Asia and Rest of World Team Predictions for the Reyes Cup

The 2026 Reyes Cup in Manila is about to begin, and the biggest question is not who wins — it is which players the captains will select for their wildcard spots.

Carlo Biado had just stepped away from the table with the world championship trophy in hand, but when I watched the post-match interview from Manila, what caught my attention was not the decisive shot. It was the way he spoke about the team. "At the Reyes Cup, I do not play for myself," Biado said. "I play for the twelve people sitting behind me." In a sport where every shot is a personal battle with yourself, that sentence sounds like heresy. But it is also the reason the Reyes Cup exists, and the reason the three wildcard spots per team are generating hotter debate than the ranking table itself.

I have been following the World Nineball Tour (WNT) throughout the past season as a reporter covering the Asian market from England. As the tournament entered its roster-locking phase, I noticed something interesting: the three wildcards per team are not a supplement — they are the entire tactical story of this event.

Context: Why the Reyes Cup Differs from the Mosconi Cup

The Reyes Cup is built on the Mosconi Cup template — team format, race-to-X matches, aggregate scoring across multiple sessions. But instead of Europe vs. USA, this is Asia vs. Rest of World (ROW). Manila hosts, and Asia has won two consecutive editions on home cloth.

The qualification structure is clear: players accumulate points from the US Open Championship (held in Frisco, Texas) and the Florida Open to earn automatic spots. The rest — three per team — lies entirely with the captains. Francisco Bustamante leads Asia. Ralf Souquet leads ROW.

The contrast in the two captains' philosophies creates the tournament's appeal. Bustamante speaks of "keeping the trophy in Asia." Souquet speaks of "building an Avengers squad." One side defends identity. The other pursues pure strength.

I once sat in an analysis room with cricket, basketball, and rugby coaches during the pandemic talkshow series in 2026. The biggest lesson I took was not technical — it was about how team sports operate. The strongest roster on paper is rarely the winning roster. That holds true in cricket. It holds true in basketball. And it will hold true at the Reyes Cup.

Roster Analysis: Paper Peaks and On-Ground Strength

Looking at the predicted ROW roster, the first thing that strikes you is the density of titles. Five former US Open champions in one team: Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (Spain), Shane van Boening (USA), Joshua Filler (Germany), Fedor Gorst (Russia), and Jayson Shaw (UK). Add multiple world championships spread among them.

This is the strongest aggregate competitive profile any pool team has ever assembled in a team event. No Mosconi Cup team in the past decade has had this concentration of world-class cueists in a single roster.

But — and this is the most important "but" in this article — Asia has won twice in a row. Not with the strongest roster. With the most cohesive roster.

Aloysius Yapp (Singapore), the inaugural Reyes Cup MVP, is currently world No. 1. Carlo Biado (Philippines), reigning world champion, is the stable pillar. Robbie Capito (Hong Kong) just reached the US Open 2026 final with a $50,000 prize — a breakthrough for a cueist who has never played a Reyes Cup. Albert Januarta (Indonesia), 18 years old, is the fastest-rising name on the WNT rankings.

And Duong. The Vietnamese cueist his home community calls the "GOAT of Vietnam." He won Premier League Pool 2026 — the first major WNT title of the year. He played a pivotal role in both of Asia's Reyes Cup victories. He is frighteningly composed in deciding frames.

The number does not tell the whole story, but it knows where the story begins. And here, the number begins with a paradox: the team with fewer titles is the team defending the cup.

Why the Manila Cloth is the Biggest Variable

In professional pool, cloth speed, cushion rebound, and humidity create differences television audiences never see. Southeast Asian tournaments have long used specific cloth speeds and table tolerances — different from events in Europe or America.

Cueists familiar with Manila conditions have a training advantage that players flying in from Europe do not. The adaptation period typically takes two to three days — enough time to lose the first two sessions if not handled well.

I saw this play out in reverse in 2026. When commentating on the World Cup quarter-final between France and Uruguay, I analysed Antoine Griezmann's free-kick — the Uruguay wall jumped 0.3 seconds early against the motion data, exposing a gap at the near post. That is a time window too short for the naked eye, yet it decided the goal. In pool it is the same. Cloth conditions are not spoken about in commentary, but they decide the break and the cue-ball control.

Asia wins on home cloth. That is a structural fact, not luck. If ROW does not bring cueists with Asian tournament experience, this advantage will repeat.

Wildcard Selections: Where Is the Dual Value

The three wildcards per team carry two parallel functions: competitive value and narrative value.

For Asia, Aloysius Yapp brings the stability of a former MVP and world No. 1 status — though the original analysis describes his year as "shaky," signalling fluctuation. At eighteen, Albert Januarta brings generational potential and Indonesian market appeal.

The Januarta selection reminds me of the AJ Manas precedent — a young cueist chosen as a wildcard in the previous Reyes Cup who ignited the home stands. Asian captains understand that a young wildcard is not just a tactical investment, but a signal to regional fans.

For ROW, Joshua Filler is the highest-impact wildcard. The original analysis calls him "the best player at the moment." Three Mosconi Cup MVP awards (2026, 2026, 2026) confirm the most important thing: he shines in race-format team play, where pressure comes not just from yourself but from teammates waiting.

Fedor Gorst is the opposite variable. The Russian cueist is described as "the most talented and accomplished cueist left on the ROW board" — but his form is volatile. At the US Open, he knocked out Shane van Boening, then lost to Robbie Capito in the same tournament. A cueist who can beat a former world champion and lose to a first-time Reyes Cup player in the same week is an unquantifiable variable.

Jayson Shaw brings eight Mosconi Cup wins — the densest team-format record in the entire ROW roster. But the original analysis places him in the wildcard group, not automatic qualifiers. This shows that even elite European cueists are not guaranteed spots at the Reyes Cup.

Contrarian Angle: What Duong for ROW Signals

This is the point where I paused longest when reading the prediction. The analysis places Duong — the Vietnamese cueist — on Team ROW, not Team Asia.

Geographically, Vietnam is an Asian nation. But if wildcards are entirely at the captain's discretion, the boundary between "Asia" and "rest of the world" becomes blurrier than it appears. And this is a point I believe the original analysis has not fully explored.

If Duong plays for ROW, Team Asia loses a cueist who played a pivotal role in both previous victories. ROW gains a cueist who understands the Manila cloth and understands the pressure of this format from the inside. Tactically, that is the biggest reversal of the entire team-selection market.

The transfer market is a mirror reflecting the ego of the sporting director. Here, there is no sporting director — only a captain. And the captain's ego is expressed through the list they choose.

But there is another possibility: this is an error in the prediction, or ROW's nationality rules are not clearly stated in public documents. What I can say for certain: if Duong genuinely plays for ROW, Team Asia loses one of the strongest psychological cueists in this format. And ROW gains a weapon their title list does not reveal.

Yapp and the Silent Risk

Among the roster analyses, the most underweighted risk is Aloysius Yapp's form. He is world No. 1. But the original analysis notes "a shaky year" while he still holds the top spot.

This is a familiar pattern: rankings reflect accumulated past performance, not current form. In a team format where every match matters, Yapp's current psychological state is more relevant than his ranking.

This raises questions about Asia's veteran spine. If Yapp is not the reliable anchor the analysis assumes, the burden shifts to Biado and Duong — the automatic qualifiers — to provide stability. And if Duong plays for ROW, the burden falls on Biado alone.

The psychological structure of a pool team differs from individual play in one fundamental way: a lost frame does not end your match. It ends the next player's match. And the next player knows it.

The Biggest Risk: An All-Star Roster Does Not Automatically Win

When all analyses are synthesised, the highest-rated risk is not a specific cueist playing poorly. It is the possibility that the ROW roster — with five former US Open champions — fails to connect as a team.

Mosconi Cup history provides evidence: European teams possessing multiple world champions have underperformed due to internal dynamics. If Shaw, Filler, Gorst, Sanchez Ruiz, and van Boening each play individualistically rather than fighting for team momentum, Asia's cohesion advantage could be decisive.

Souquet's "Avengers" philosophy is compelling on paper. But the Avengers are a fictional roster. In the real world, superstars need time to find a common voice — and the Reyes Cup lasts only a few days.

On the other side, 18-year-old Januarta is the highest-variance wildcard. His ceiling is world-class. His floor is a young cueist overwhelmed in his first team event, losing crucial frames to nerves. The AJ Manas precedent shows the opposite can happen — but a precedent is not a guarantee.

The denser the data, the more the story must be told with human ears, not machine eyes. And the data on Januarta in team format is too thin to conclude.

A Noteworthy Economic Factor

One factor purely statistical analyses often overlook: financial pressure on young cueists.

For Januarta and Capito, a strong Reyes Cup performance could unlock sponsorship deals worth multiples of their annual tournament earnings. This creates a specific psychological pressure — not desperation, but a sharp awareness that one week of competition can shape several years of career.

On the flip side, veteran cueists like Shaw and van Boening already have stable income from tournaments, exhibitions, and coaching. They play for legacy, not for the next opportunity. This difference in motivation can produce unpredictable outcomes.

Regional Appeal and Generational Storylines

The Reyes Cup is building its own identity distinct from the Mosconi Cup through regional appeal. Vietnamese fans follow Duong. Indonesian fans follow Januarta. Filipino audiences flood Manila for Biado and the home venue. These are not abstract media numbers — these are fans present in the arena, creating noise that cueists must overcome or exploit.

A major event does not end when the whistle sounds; it begins when the lights go out. For the Reyes Cup, the lights going out in Manila will start a new cycle of debate about whether Asia is truly the dominant force in team pool, or whether the first two victories were merely home-advantage effects that will fade when ROW brings the strongest roster in the tournament's history.

This third Reyes Cup will shape the event's long-term reputation. If Asia wins a third time, the Bustamante model — cohesion over titles — becomes the standard for future pool teams. If ROW wins with its all-star roster, the story will be that individual strength finally overcame home advantage. Both outcomes are pivotal.

What I Want to See from the Table

When I follow pool tournaments in England, what I always look for is not the perfect shot. It is how a cueist reacts after a teammate loses a crucial frame. That moment — between someone else's lost frame and your own — is where team format reveals its true nature.

The 2026 Reyes Cup in Manila will show us that. Duong at the table, if he genuinely plays for ROW, will be the biggest test. The 18-year-old Januarta will be the biggest unknown. And Souquet's so-called Avengers roster will be the biggest gamble.

Three wildcards. Six names. One home cloth. And an open question only the table can answer: when team pressure is placed on cueists used to playing only for themselves, who will stand firm?