The Magician runs out of tricks

BUSAN – Francisco "Django" Bustamante has vowed to keep up the fight for the Filipino cue artists in the 14th Asian Games here.

"Babawi ako," said Bustamante Thursday afternoon after his bosom buddy Efren "Bata" Reyes took an early exit in the 8-ball singles event at the Dongju College Gymnasium.

Bustamante, who finished second to American Earl Strickland in the World Pool Championship in Cardif, Wales, last July, will vie in the 9-ball singles and 9-ball doubles along with Antonio Lining on Saturday and Sunday.

Reyes drew a bye in the preliminary round, then disposed of Kuwait’s Khaled Al-Mutairi, 9-1, and Malaysia’s Amir Ibrahim, 9-6, to set up a semifinal match against Chinese Taipei’s Hsia Huia Kai.

But the Filipino pool legend also known as "The Magician" failed to get past the 27-year-old Taiwanese and absorbed a 7-9 loss.

"Breaks and pumatay," a disappointed Reyes was quoted as saying after the match.

Local billiards officials had said that it was the 46-year-old Reyes himself who opted to play in the 8-ball singles, rather than his pet event – the 9-ball of which he is the former world champion.

But now that Reyes is out of the race for the 8-ball gold, team officials might wonder if fielding the Pampanga natïve in the 9-ball would have been a wiser move.

Huang Kun-Chung defeated Singapore’s Tan Tiong Boon in the other semifinal pairing, 9-4, and set the stage for an all-Taiwanese finale.

Lee Van Cortez, the other Filipino entry, was ousted the other day.

Reyes was playing Tan for the bronze at press time although it was not winning the bronze he came here for.