'Bata', 'Django' to bring winning ways anew in World Cup of Pool

Francisco ‘Django’ Bustamante, the other half of the Philippines’ most successful combo in the World Cup of Pool, believes luck plays an important factor for all the teams competing in this prestigious tournament. “We’re lucky, that’s all," Bustamante told GMANews.TV. “If not for luck, we wouldn’t have survived our finals match against Ralf Souquet and Thorstenn Hohmann of Germany last year." Bustamante, who won his first and only world championship – the World 9-Ball Championship in Qatar a few months back – was referring to last year’s come-from-behind 11-7 victory when he and his partner, Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes pulled off a dramatic win coming from the jaws of defeat. “We were down, 7-9, and one more win would put them within striking distance of winning the crown, until Thorsten missed a shot and allowed us to come back," recounted Bustamante. Bustamante and Reyes will team up again and bring their winning ways in this tough tournament to be participated in by some of the finest cue artists in the world. The Philippines will field in two teams in this tournament with Reyes and Bustamante joining forces in the first squad. The other team will be composed of former world No.1 player Dennis Orcullo and former world pool runner-up Roberto Gomez. Bustamante admitted it won’t be easy winning a third title in the World Cup of Pool that gets underway Tuesday at the Midtown Wing of Robinsons Place in Malate, Manila. “Age is catching up on us and it’s a fact," said the 46-year-old Bustamante, who is hoping he and his 57-year-old partner Reyes will provide another miracle in front of the hometown crowd. “Competition gets tougher and tougher and once you reach a certain age, there are certain changes happening in your game as well. Aside from the fact that we’re two aging champions, games are played in race-to-9 matches, which will work to the advantage of younger players. We prefer longer matches because it will give us time to recover," added Bustamante, who will coach the Philippine team to the Guangzhou Asian Games. Considered as biggest threat to Reyes and Bustamante is Team Germany led by Souquet, a double world champion, who will have a new partner in former world straight ball titlist Oliver Ortmann. Souquet sees the field as very competitive and he believes the race to the crown will be a “wide-open race." “I can see at least 10 to 12 teams getting a good chance of winning this year’s crown," said Souquet. “Finland, Holland, the two teams from the Philippines, China, Chinese-Taipei and even Spain, will have a good chance." Souquet, a former World 9-Ball and World 8-Ball champion, likes his chances, but he believes last year’s team, with Hohmann as partner, is stronger compared to the squad he has now with Ortmann as teammate. Finland will be backstopped by reigning world No.1 and defending World Ten Ball champion Mika Immonen. He will be paired with Markus Java. Holland will be led by Niels Feijen, one of the world’s top five players, and will be joined in the team by Huidji See. A crack pair of Chinese players composed of Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen will give the other favored competitors a run for their money while two-time world junior champion Ko Pin-Yi and many-time Guinness 9-Ball champion Chang Jung-Lin will lead Chinese-Taipei’s charge. - Rey Joble/OMG, GMANews.TV