Bustamante on Million Dollar Billiard Shootout Cut to Four

Allen Hopkins’ Million Dollar 9-Ball Shootout has cut 8 of its original 12 players, with the last 4 returning Sunday for the final rounds. This inaugural event is hosted by the Valley Forge Convention Center and will award its winner a $20,000 first-place prize Sunday.

Saturday was the final day for the players to fall into place and either advance to Sunday’s rounds or leave early. In the same format as the previous two days, there were two rounds, each consisting of 25-game matches. There were no major changes in the line-up, though, for the top four players after Saturday’s rounds were the same as after Friday’s: Dennis Orcollo, Corey Deuel, Francisco Bustamante, and Shane Van Boening.

While there were no real blow-outs in the first round Saturday, there were some extremely lopsided scores in the final round. Dennis Hatch, who up to the evening round seemed a strong contender to make it to Sunday’s rounds, only won 9 games against Orcollo. Equally, Tony Chohan, who took 15 games to Marlon Manalo’s 10 in the first round Saturday, only put together 6 games against another Filipino champion, Bustamante, in the second round.

Orcollo is still the games leader at this point with a grand total of 93 out of 150 games played. His break and run-out total is 32. Tied for second place are Deuel and Bustamante, both with 86 total games; however, Deuel leads in the run-outs with 34, compared to Bustamante’s 38. The player with the most break and run-outs is Van Boening, who has 38, though he has the lowest total games won of the top four with 83.

Matt Krah fared the worst in the evening round, only winning 4 games to Deuel’s 21, cementing Deuel’s advancement to Sunday. Krah’s total games won for the event amounted to 53, with 16 break and run-outs. Evan Broxmeyer eked out 5 racks against Manalo in the final round Saturday, bringing his total to 38 games with 3 break and run-outs.

Manalo ended the event only 2 racks behind Van Boening with 81, with Steve Moore and Hatch tied with 78 games. Daryl Peach notched one less, and Johnny Archer had 72. Sunday’s semifinals will be a race to 13 and will feature Orcollo versus Van Boening and Deuel versus Bustamante.

Francisco 'Django' Bustamante can't make it to the Davao leg

A Guaranteed total cash prize of P800,000 will be up for grabs in the star-studded First Senate President Manny Villar Cup 9-Ball Open Davao leg set August 21 to 23 at the Gaisano Mall of Davao Atrium.

Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) secretary-general Gandy Valle made the announcement during the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn.

Valle, who guested with Davao Billiards Association (DBA) president Menlee Migellano, said the office of Senator Villar has yet to send a breakdown of the prizes, although he revealed that the champion will take home not less than P300,000. The runner-up and the next top players will also receive huge prizes.

Valle said they will also hold an inter-barangay competition on August 17 for all-Davao players and a qualifying tournament on August 18 and 19 at the NCCC Mall B3 Center. The qualifying tournament is open for those who want to earn a slot to the main event to be held at the Gaisano Mall.

Migellano said the inter-barangay champion will pocket P10,000 while the qualifying champion will bag P20,000 and book a slot in the Villar Cup Open along with the runner-up who will get P9,000. The qualifying third and fourth placers, meanwhile, will go home with P3,000 each.

Valle, a former Bangkok Asian Games doubles gold medallist, confirmed the participation of pool sharks Efren "Bata" Reyes, current World No. 1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, reigning World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Davao City's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games back-to-back medallist and New York champion Lee Vann Corteza and former two-time world pool champion Ronato Alcano, among other big names.

"Only Francisco 'Django' Bustamante can't make it to the Davao leg because he has a campaign abroad on the same schedule as our tournament here. The leg champions in Alabang, Cebu and Bulacan will also come and put up a stiff challenge," said Valle, who won the Cebu leg of the prestigious cuefest.

Valle downplayed his chances to winning the Davao leg title citing the huge cast of veterans entered in the knockout, race-to-nine, alternate-break format meet. "I'll just focus on my game," he said.

RP pool masters off to Qatar for 9-ball tournament

Manila, Philippines – Former World Pool champs Efren "Bata" Reyes, Alex Pagulayan, and Ronnie Alcano will lead the Philippine contestants going to Doha for the 2008 Qatar 9-Ball Championship, which starts on Friday, June 27, at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Hall.

The other contestants are current world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, defending national champion Lee Van Corteza, veterans Warren Kiamco and Ramil Gallego, upcoming stars Joven Bustamante and Benjie Guevarra, and recent Villar Cup Cebu leg champ Gandy Valle.

The tournament offers total prizes worth $150,000, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP).

"I hope I could carry a momentum from my Villar Cup triumph," Valle said.

Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Orcollo, and Corteza are all seeded to the main draw. But Valle, Pagulayan, Alcano, Gomez, Kiamco, Gallego, Guevarra, and Bustamante still need to earn their spots in the 96-person main draw through the two-day qualifying tilt starting on Friday.

Bustamante Eases Way Into Semis

Francisco Bustamante made his way into the semi-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters to set up an all-Filipino clash with Alex Pagulayan following an 8-4 win at the Riviera over England ’s Imran Majid.

Majid played well in patches but his luck deserted him at critical moments and Bustamante made enough quality run outs to keep himself ahead throughout.

“That was a great match and I played good in the beginning,” said Bustamante. “Majid got close and I was lucky when he scratched on the break at 5-4. That was a very big game for me. “I’ll try my best against Alex in the semi-final. I last played him in the World Championship in the Phil ippines last November when I beat him.”

The Filipino won the lag and completed a comfortable run out to take the early lead and with two balls off the break in the next, another clearance made it 2-0.

There were two more balls down from Bustamante’s next break but he scratched as he needed to force the cue ball to gain position off the yellow 1. Majid’s first visit to the table was with ball in hand but he missed an easy 8 ball into the corner pocket to gift the rack to Bustamante.

A fluked 3 ball from the Filipino set up another run out to take the score to 4-0 but he came up dry in the fifth game to give Majid his best chance.

He missed the 1 ball into the centre pocket though and Bustamante pocketed it with a precise bank shot. A bank on the blue 2 wobbled in the jaws and stayed out and Majid set about the table but a nudge on the cue ball made him lose position.

Majid’s snooker on the 7 ball forced Bustamante to reach for his jump stick and although he made contact, it fell nicely for Majid and he ran out to take his first rack of the match.

A dry break from Majid allowed Bustamante back to the table but he was forced to play safe. Majid though laid an excellent snooker and although his opponent escaped, it left the 1 ball on.

A positional error from Majid forced him to play safe and both players went back and forth with safeties. Bustamante made the first mistake which allowed Imran to clear to get the score back to 2-4.

The Filipino though won the next rack to move into a 5-2 lead and he made two balls off the next break to put himself in a good position. He missed a tough pot on the 1 ball though, and Majid ran the table to grab a rack back.

Yet another dry break resulted in Bustamante looking good for a run out but he inexplicably scratched into the side pocket with just three balls left on the table. The Englishman returned to the table and finished it off to reduce his deficit to a single rack.

Majid looked to have made a golden break but the cue ball scratched to deny him. With ball in hand, Bustamante ran out to go to 6-4.

He broke and ran the next to reach the hill at 7-4 and there was more of the same in what was the final rack of the game to seal an 8-4 win for Bustamante.

2008 World Pool Masters Site Starts Today

Matchroom Sport is delighted to announce that www.worldpoolmasters.com , the Official Online Home of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, is now live.

With the tournament being held for the first time ever in Las Vegas, the site will be your first port of call for news, player profiles, results, stories and pictures of what promises to be a hugely exciting event featuring some of the world’s top players.

Four World 9-ball Champions – Daryl Peach, Mika Immonen, Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan – will be taking part in the event as well as some of the biggest names in the game, including Shane Van Boening, Francisco Bustamante, Niels Feijen and Corey Deuel.

All will be vying for the $20,000 top prize.

The World Pool Masters will be taking place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino from Thursday 9th to Sunday 11th May with afternoon and evening sessions daily, concluding with the final scheduled to commence around 9.15pm on Sunday evening.

www.worldpoolmasters.com will feature exclusive interviews with the stars who make up the field as well as comments and predictions from the big names of world pool.

Bookmark www.worldpoolmasters.com today for full details and information about the 16th annual running of one of pool’s most prestigious events.

Final Names added to 2008 World Pool Masters Line-up

The final names have been added to the players’ roster for the forthcoming 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters which takes place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from May 9 to May 11.

Filipino superstars Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan have confirmed their attendance as well as top-rated Europeans Ralf Souquet (Germany) and Niels Feijen of Holland.

With 16 players in the field competing for a $62,000 prize fund, event promoters Matchroom Sport believe they have assembled the strongest line-up yet in the 16 year history of the event.

“With four World 9 Ball Champions, six US Open Champions and a host of other title-holders in the field, I believe that this will be the toughest ever World Pool Masters,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn.

“With winner breaks, race to eight matches on the toughest equipment it will take a series of fantastic performances over the three days to lift this prestigious trophy,” he added.

Other recent confirmations include 2001 US Open Champion Corey Deuel and a quartet of stars recently qualified from the Euro Tour.

They are the latest English 9 Ball sensation Mark Gray, Germany’s dangerous Christian Reimering, up-and-coming Italian player Bruno Muratore and 2006 Mosconi Cup player Imran Majid (England).

World Junior Champion, the 18 year-old Ko Pin-Yi of Taiwan cemented his credentials to a Masters spot at the weekend by coming from 14-4 down to beat Dennis Orcollo 15-14 and lift the Brunswick Thailand 9 Ball Open.

Elsewhere, 2003 Masters Champion Tony Drago won the Paris Open at the weekend, his first Euro Tour title, after three losing finals.

2008 World Pool Masters Field:

Daryl Peach (England)
Thomas Engert (Germany)
Mika Immonen (Finland)
Tony Drago (Malta)
Shane Van Boening (USA)
Rodney Morris (USA)
Francisco Bustamante (Philippines)
Alex Pagulayan (Philippines)
Ko Pin-ye (Chinese Taipei)
Niels Feijen (Netherlands)
Ralf Souquet (Germany)
Corey Deuel (USA)
Mark Gray (England)
Christian Reimering (Germany)
Bruno Moratore (Italy)
Imran Majid (England)

2008 Partypoker.net World Pool Masters Announced

The 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters will be heading to Las Vegas for the first time. A total of 16 of the finest players from around the world will be competing in the event, which will be staged at The Riviera Hotel and Casino from May 9 to May 11.

2007 champion Thomas Engert from Germany will be back to defend his title and will be joined by a host of big names from the sport. Other players confirmed include 2007 World Pool Champion Daryl Peach (England), 2001 World Champion Mika Immonen (Finland), 2007 Mosconi Cup players Tony Drago (Malta), Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris (both USA) and 2007 World Junior Champion Ko Pin-yi (Chinese Taipei).

Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan (both Philippines) have also been invited while the leading four players on the Euro Tour rankings after the Paris Open later this month will also qualify with the other players to be announced shortly.

The PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters is now in its 16th year and has grown into one of the biggest and most prestigious Pool competitions in the sport's calendar. This year it will be hosted by the BCA National 8-Ball Championships with the opening matches on Friday, May 9 with the final on Sunday, May 11.

Matchroom Sport spokesman said: "It's fantastic that the event is coming to the USA for the first time. "I'm sure there will be big crowds, lots of excitement and drama and will be a great competition.

"The invite list is taking shape and, through our agreement with the WPA, we take the top four ranked players on the Euro Tour after their next event which finishes on the 24th of this month."

As always, the World Pool Masters will be televised throughout the world in 15 one-hour highlights programmes. There will be a $62,000 prize fund with the winner collecting $20,000.

Tickets will be made available in March on the Playbca.com website, and if any are left, at the Championships. The BCAPL, in conjunction with the Riviera, is working on a seating plan that will accommodate a few hundred spectators.

BCAPL's Mark Griffin added: "Our players love professional action. This is the first time the Masters has been held on U.S. soil and we are honored Matchroom has chosen us.

"It's been a tradition to entertain the thousands of BCA Pool League members who travel the globe to compete in our National 8-Ball Championships. This year will be no different."