Django, Bata coast to 9-Ball main draw

MANILA, Philippines - Defending champion Francisco “Django” Bustamante and pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes trampled their respective rivals to advance to the main draw of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar, Monday night.

Bustamante, who scrambled past Caneda Villamor, 9-7, in the first round, scuttled Alazmi Majed of Kuwait, 9-4, to top Group D and clinch a seat in the 64-player knockout stage of the annual event.

Reyes likewise settled down with his game after hacking out a scary 9-8 win over Mark Gray of England, dominating Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 9-3, in Group A.

Dennis Orcollo matched Reyes’ two-win romp in the same group, beating Jalal Yousef of Venezuela, 9-3, to advance in the tournament proper of the $250,000 event.

Five other Filipinos made it to the main draw after posting two victories each in their respective groups, including Carlo Biado, Oliver Medenilla, Jeffrey de Luna, Allan Cuartero and Antonio Lining.

Biado whipped Le Gun Kae of Korea, 9-2, in Group D; Medenilla crushed Nguyen Phuong Thao of Vietnam, 9-6, in Group G; De Luna routed Riyan Setiawan of Indonesia, 9-4, in Group H; Cuartero smashed Marcus Chamat of Sweden, 9-5, in Group L; and Lining toppled Tohru Kouribayashi of Japan, 9-4, in Group P.

Ronnie Alcano, meantime, yielded an 8-9 decision to Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 9-8, in Group M, needing to win one more game to salvage a spot in the Last 64.

Israel Rota bowed to Chang Yu Lun of Chinese-Taipei, 9-3, in Group K and must also win his last match to stay in the hunt for the top $36,000 purse.