Django, Bata in smashing start

Francisco "Django" Bustamante resumed his hunt for a second crown in as many weeks in earnest as he whipped a couple of rivals to remain on the winner’s side along with compatriot Efren "Bata" Reyes in the rich First Big Apple 9-ball Challenge at the Master Billiard Center in Sunnyside, New York Saturday.

Fresh from his victory in last week’s International Challenge of Champions where he pocketed the winner-take-all pot of $50,000, Bustamante routed Corey Harper, 11-2, then outplayed Alex Lely, 11-4, to join 15 others on the winners’ bracket of the event which drew the top 92 players in the world.

Bustamante, the current leader in the Player Money List with $80,300 in winnings, faces American Santos Sambajon next, hoping to nail another win in the race-to-11, double-elimination phase.

Reyes, who like Bustamante drew a bye in the first round, survived Teddy Garnahan, 11-7, then overwhelmed Mike Davis, 11-1, to arrange an explosive match with top Finnish player Mika Immonen in the event sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiards Association and serving as the third North American stop on the WPA world tour.

Like his more revered compatriots, Jose "Amang" Parica hurdled his first two assignments after taking a bye, beating Mike O’Connor, 11-1, and thumping Fabio Petroni, 11-2. He faces Troy Frank in the next round of the three-day event which also serves as the tuneup for the Filipinos’ keenly-awaited stint in the World Pool Masters set Aug. 29-31 in the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Thorsten Hohmann, the newly-crowned world 9-ball champion from Germany, has traced his connections to the Philippines as his first cousins are half-Filipinos and are certified Bustamante fans. He said they are the children of his uncle who married a Filipinas years ago.

Hohmann made the disclosure about his Philippine connections in his reply to an invitation to play in a tournament to be put up in Manila in October