Django RP’s standard bearer in Asian Games

Francisco "Django" Bustamante, rated as one of the world’s best billiards players, has been named standard bearer of the Philippine delegation in the Asian Games in Busan on Sept. 29 to Oct. 14, this year.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit announced Django’s selection yesterday after consulting with RP delegation chief of mission Tom Carrasco, the POC executive board members and BSCP president Ernesto Fajardo.

"It is only fitting that we reward Django (Bustamante) for his sterling performance in the recent world pool championship in Cardiff, Wales by letting him carry the (Philippine) flag in Busan," Dayrit said.

The 38-year-old Bustamante finished second to American Earl Strickland in the Cardiff tournament, losing, 15-17, in the finals where he played in grief because of the death of his six-month-old daughter.

When contacted in Virginia (USA) where he is playing in the Peninsula 9-ball Open together with another great Filipino player, Efren "Bata" Reyes, Django could only say "I am greatly honored."

Bustamante was named Player of the Year by the US magazine Billiards Digest in 1998 and earned the same honor from the Philippine Sportswriters Association a year later.

Among his major titles were the Japan Open, where he routed Ralf Souquet, 9-0, in the finals, the IBC World Tour in Munich, Germany, the 2002 Motolite World 9-ball Challenge at the Araneta Coliseum where he whipped American Corey Deuel, 13-8, in the finals, the World Pool Masters in Essex (UK) where he nipped Strickland, 7-6, in the finals, and the 1998 Tulsa 9-ball Open in Oklahoma.

A member of the Puyat Sports team, Bustamante also finished second in the World Pool League in Warsaw, Poland and third in the world pool championship in Cardiff in 1999.