Grief-stricken Django pulls off slim win

CARDIFF, Wales – Not even the death of his baby daughter could stop Francisco "Django" Bustamante from reaching the quarterfinals, and even hope for the best in the 2002 World Pool Championship Friday.

Barely hours after learning that his six-month-old daughter Mariel had died of illness back home, Bustamante showed up at the Cardiff International Arena wearing a white shirt with a black armband, and so much sadness on his face.

But this hardly affected his game as he displayed tremendous poise under pressure to turn back countryman Antonio Lining, 11-10, in the round of 16. Bustamante trailed early in the match, 6-10, then put on a big finish.

The victory over Lining, however, pushed the grieving Bustamante into a quarterfinal showdown with Efren "Bata" Reyes, who stormed past Germany’s Oliver Ortmann, 11-5.

Reyes, trying to regain the title he won in 1999, was in magical form as he raced to a 5-0 lead over the 1995 winner. Ortmann could only watch in disbelief, slumped on his chair as the Filipino was mopping up the final rack.

The winner between Bustamante and Reyes will move on to the semifinal against the winner between 1997 champion Johnny Archer of the US and Ching-Sung Yang of Chinese-Taipei. The semis is also set Saturday, and the final, a race-to-17, on Sunday.

"It’s very difficult because when I came to Cardiff I was concentrating so much on winning this tournament, but that has all changed now. I have never played with so much concentration as I did tonight," said Bustamante.

The Germany-based Filipino will try to catch the first flight out of Cardiff on Sunday in case he falls short against Reyes. He had wanted to leave as early as Friday evening but couldn’t book a flight to Manila.

"My daughter Mariel has died and I can’t believe she died. I came here from Manila and that was the last time I saw her. She was very healthy when I left," he said of Mariel, whom they consider as their lucky child.

"I wanted to go home but I decided to stay and play for the Philippines. This is a big tournament not only for the money but for the prestige, too. People in the Philippines don’t sleep just watch the pool. I really hope I can win it," Bustamante added.

"It was when Mila was about to give birth to Mariel when Django started to regain his old, deadly form. Gumanda talaga ang tira and he kept on winning even after the child was born. Suwerte talaga sa kanila ang batang ‘yan," said a friend of the Bustamantes.