Bata, Django enter semis in World Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, weaving their old magic, turned their expected tough quarterfinals showdown with England’s Darren Appleton and Imran Majid to a lopsided match in the PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool at The Annex of SM North Edsa Mall in Quezon City yesterday.

In hot groove three games into the tourney, Reyes and Bustamante rolled past Appleton and Majid, 9-1, and set up an exciting semifinal duel with fellow former World Cup title-holders Fu Jian-bo and Li He-wen of China.

The third-seeded German pair of Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet survived a thriller of a match with Dutch Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg, 9-7, to also gain entry into the semis.

Earlier, the Chinese, the 2007 winners, humbled the defending champion pair of Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening, 9-5, to clinch the first slot in the semis.

Fu and Li bucked a wobbly start, rallying from a 1-3 deficit to dethrone the Americans and boost their own bid for a second crown in the elite event presented by Matchroom Sport and aired live by Solar Sports on its cable channel and over C/S9.

In the semis, Fu and Li will be up against Reyes and Bustamante, the winners in the initial staging of the event in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 2006.

Flashing great shots and enjoying the breaks on their side, Reyes and Bustamante were hardly challenged in easing out the Englishmen and assuring themselves of at least $16,000 out of the $250,000 total cash pot.

“My partner played very well. He didn’t give our rivals a chance,” said Reyes.

“You give them the chance, and they will kill you. But we also got lucky with Imran missing couples of important shots,” said Bustamante.

The Englishmen ran out of luck, settling for a Final Eight finish worth $10,000.

They barely made the quarters as they beat Spain, 8-6, in a game where Spaniard David Alcaide, in a crucial moment, called a foul on himself on a double hit on the cue ball missed by referee Cielo Lopez.

Against the Filipinos, Appleton – the reigning World 10-Ball champion -- and Majid just didn’t have the chance to win.

The Filipinos yielded a lone rack -- the fourth -- to the Englishmen on a missed kick by Reyes on the 2 ball.

Save for that miss, Reyes and Bustamante were impeccable, knocking tough shots and beating the Englishmen on safety battles.

Bustamante, the 1998 World Pool Player of the Year, was a calming influence and provided much of the highlight shots sending the crowd up on their feet.