Bata, Django eye quarters vs Croats

Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante hope to settle down after a shaky first round as the Philippines guns for a quarterfinal berth against unfancied but dangerous Croatia in the World Cup of Pool at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, Netherlands Wednesday.

Reyes and Bustamante struggled past Scotland’s Pat Holtz and Michael Valentine, 8-6, Tuesday after surging ahead at 6-1 as the defending champions fell into a maze of errors, enabling the Scots to bounce back.

Against the Croats, the RP bets need to play true to form as Philipp Stojanovic and Ivica Putnik shocked the 16th-ranked Russian tandem of Konstantin Stepanov and Ruslan Chinakhov, 8-5, to gain a crack at the Filipinos.

In other results, Taiwan blasted Denmark, 8-3, to arrange a second round clash with Belgium, which upended 14th-ranked Holland B; Austria nipped Australia, 8-6, to set a duel with Singapore, which stunned fourth seed Germany, 8-4; Canada beat India, 8-3, to seal a showdown with Korea, which surprised sixth seed Vietnam, 8-5.

The champion in the winner-break format event will receive $60,000.