Django rules World Pool Masters

Francisco "Django" Bustamante lived up to his billing, name and reputation as he nipped American Earl Strickland in a thriller of a race-to-7 duel to win the World Pool Masters crown at the Lakeside Shopping Center in Thurrock, Essex, England Sunday (Monday in Manila).

In a tense-filled encounter that had both players trading a series of stunning shots, brilliant safety plays and unlikely errors, Bustamante blew a two-rack lead at 6-4 but proved steadier in the decider as he came up with a great shot to turn back Strickland and bag the top $15,000 (P750,000) purse.

"We played terrible. We missed a lot of balls but really he was a bit unlucky. He never made anything off the break while I did and I think that’s what counted in the end," said Bustamante, a player noted for his powerful breaks.

Strickland, who earlier foiled an all-Filipino finale after routing Efren "Bata" Reyes, 7-0, in the semis, actually appeared headed to an explosive comeback after forcing a 6-all tie. But he came out empty off the 13th break, and after a brief exchange of safeties, watched Bustamante roll in a spectacular shot that paved for the Filipino’s victory.

It was Bustamante’s second World Pool Masters crown as he also won the 1998 edition of this event, which drew the top 16 players in the world and which used the race-to-7, alternate break format.

This time, however, a big Filipino crowd witnessed the latest exploit of one of the country’s highly-successful pool artists.

"The Filipino people in the audience were amazing. There were so many of them it was like playing in

Manila," said Bustamante, who opened his bid here with a 7-3 rout of Italian Fabio Petroni, then outduelled Swede Marcus Chamat, 7-6, in the quarters before thumping young Polish star Radoslaw Babica, 7-3, in the semis.

A 5-1 favorite to win this event, Bustamante said the victory will further boost his confidence when he competes in next week’s tough US Open, one of the big events Bustamante had committed himself in that ruled out his participation in the RP squad to this year’s SEA Games in Malaysia.

Reyes, the spearhead of the team in this week’s Kuala Lumpur Games, whipped reigning titlist Mika Immonen in the quarters, 7-2, but bumped into the talented Strickland in the semis and absorbed a shocking 0-7 defeat. Reyes settled for $4,000 (P200,000). — With report from Dante Navarro