Francisco Bustamante Wins the P1-million Hope All-Filipino Billiards Open

FRANCISCO 'Django' Bustamante pounced on a key error by Alex Pagulayan in the 28th frame and hammered out a nerve-wracking come-from-behind 15-13 victory to claim the P1-million Hope All-Filipino Billiards Open title last night at the IBC-13 Studio in Quezon City.

With Bustamante leading, 14-13, Pagulayan's stab at knotting the count evaporated when his shot on the 1-ball bubbled and stopped at the edge of the corner pocket.

Bustamante then seized the opportunity and polished off the frame for the victory, which netted him P500,000.

Pagulayan, who again lost despite surging ahead early in the match, pocketed P200,000.

'I just want to thank the Lord,' said Bustamante, who beat Pagulayan early in the elimination round in the same come-from-behind fashion. 'I asked Him to give me this win at pinagbigyan naman niya ako.'

It almost seemed something divine had worked to Bustamante's favor. Trailing, 2-8, after 10 racks, Bustamante watched as Pagulayan tossed three breaks to the trash with three scratches.

This allowed Bustamante to get back to the table in the alternate-break format just as he was starting to lose hope.

'When I was down [2-8], I felt like I no longer had any chance left because of the alternate-break format,' said the Germany-based Bustamante. 'But when he scratched three times, that gave me the opportunity to come back.'

Pagulayan, for his part, admitted that the sight of the legendary Bustamante chewing off his lead rattled his nerves.

'I felt the pressure,' said the ever-smiling Filipino-Canadian. 'Being up, 8-2, and then [watching Django] come back, there was a lot of pressure.'

Even after Bustamante had wrested the lead after the 19th frame, Pagulayan, the reigning world pool champion, managed to stay in step with the former World No. 1.

Bustamante moved to a game of the title after clinically running the 27th rack and Pagulayan mounted his last rally, getting what seemed to be a fairly easy layout on his break in the 28th frame.

But his shot at the 1-ball refused to go down and Pagulayan let out a resigned laugh before comically crawling back to his chair as if to underline the gravity of his error.

True enough, Bustamante, who had three 'golden breaks' to aid his comeback, pocketed one ball after the other, but gave himself a tense moment when he mis-prepared for the No. 9. Still, the Tarlac native sank the money ball to seal the win.

Asian Journal - 1/3/2005