Saturday, November 10, 2007 Django guns down Dutch By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
FRANCISCO "Django" Bustamante of the Philippines moved a step closer towards his mission of a historic win in the World Pool Championship, gunning down Nick van den Berg of Holland Friday dawn, 10-8, and barging into the Round of 16 in the world's biggest and most prestigious 9-ball tournament.
Bustamante is considered the heartbreak kid of this event since he has never won the WPC crown, although he came close to winning the title several years back.
With a win over Van Den Berg, Bustamante arranged a showdown with fellow Filipino Alex Pagulayan, a former champion who eliminated Luis Condo of Australia, 10-2.
The host nation actually sent four players into the Round of 16 as only Jeff de Luna lost his match Thursday, bowing to Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 4-10.
Joven Bustamante and Roberto Gomez, two Filipino young guns, also advanced following big victories.
Bustamante took out former world champion Wu Chia-Ching in a thrilling match, 10-8, while Gomez booted out another former winner Chao Fong-pang of Chinese Taipei in overpowering fashion, 10-2.
Joven Bustamante hopes to sustain his amazing run when he plays Japanese Satoshi Kawabata Saturday, while Gomez takes on Niels Feijin of Holland.
Other Round of 16 match-ups include Stepanov vs Karl Boyes of England, Kuo Po-cheng of Chinese Taipei vs Corey Deuel of the US, Alain Martel of Canada vs Mika Immonen of Finald, Vilmos Foldes of Hungary vs Lu Hui-chan of Chinese Taipei and Daryl Peach of England vs Harald Stolka of Germany.
