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July 9, 2010
DOHA, Qatar – At last, Francisco “Django” Bustamante is the king of World 9-Ball pool. This after he subdued
Kuo Po Cheng of Taiwan, 13-7, in the finals of the World 9-Ball Championship at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Hall in Doha, Qatar. He will bring home the top prize of $36,000 or P1.5 million. It was a sweet victory for Bustamante, the 46-year-old pride of Tarlac, also the home province of President Benigno Aquino III, as he waited for more than 30 years to lay claim on his first major pool title.
Bustamante was close to winning his first world title in 2002, but lost to the American Earl “The Pearl” Strickland in the finals of the World 9-Ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales. At the height of the tournament, Bustamante received a shocking phone call from his wife informing him that his daughter, who was less
than a year old, had died. Bustamante strongly considered forfeiting his participation, but his wife somehow convinced him that their child would have wanted him to continue to fight. In the final, Bustamante was leading Strickland, 15-13, but the American went through with a 17-15 victory. In winning the title finally in Qatar, Bustamante joined his compatriots Efren “Bata” Reyes, Ronnie Alcano and Fil-Canadian Alex Pagulayan as one of the game’s world champions. Reyes, Alcano and Pagulayan had bagged the men’s World 9-Ball
crown earlier. Rubilen Amit became the only Filipina world champion when she bagged the inaugural staging of the Women’s World Ten Ball Championship in Manila last year. Bustamante also earned the distinction of
becoming the first world champion this year.
He has a chance to score a rare feat of winning world championships in different disciplines on the same year when he makes the bid in the World Ten Ball Championship tentatively set in Manila this September.
The Tarlac cue artist entered the finals after hurdling past compatriot Antonio Lining with ease, 11-5.Lining went on to get $10,000. Kou Po Cheng, on the other hand, had to sweat it out against two-time world champion Johnny Archer, and managed a win in a hill-hill encounter, 11-10. Other Filipino players who reached the finals in the Doha tourney were Ronato Alcano, who went home with $6,000, Oliver Medenilla, $6,000; Francisco Felicilda, $6,000; Marlon Manalo, $4,000; and Raymond Faraon, $4,000.