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Williams Beats Reyes for Big Apple Title
Aug 18, 2003, 1:48 PM

Williams' cues may be up in the air, but his game is rock solid.

Charlie Williams went undefeated at the Big Apple 9-Ball Challenge, Aug. 15-17 at Master Billiards in Queens, New York. Williams took the title in the final over Efren Reyes, 13-8. His win came right on the heels of an 11-9 hot-seat victory over Reyes.

Williams’ back-to-back wins over "The Magician" were all the more impressive because he played every game with a borrowed cue. Williams’ plane was rerouted to Connecticut because his flight was in the air at the time of the blackout that affected many cities in the Eastern U.S. and Canada, and in the confusion, his luggage (including his cues) was lost.

Williams took home $12,000 for the win, while Reyes settled for $7,000. In third was Rodney Morris for $4,500; Jose Parica took fourth place and $3,000 and Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan tied at fifth for $2,000 apiece.