INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--FILIPINO FRANCISCO “Django” Bustamante tries to sustain his fiery form when he faces American Corey Deuel in the International Pool Tour (IPT) Challenge Match on Jan. 23 in the United States.

Bustamante, one of the top players of Puyat Sports, emerged the Derby City Classic Master of the Table champion recently at the West Executive Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

The world’s former No. 1 player was a finalist in the 9-ball competition, a semifinalist in the one pocket event and a quarterfinalist in the 9-ball bank competition in the event that offered a total pot of $100,000.

According to an IPT news release sent to the Puyat Sports office yesterday, the live match will take place at 8 p.m. East Coast Time in the online IPT website.

The game is 8-ball, and the first player to win 15 games takes the match.

Two years ago, IPT got embroiled in a controversy after failing to pay some of the prizes of the winner in the richest IPT World 8-Ball in Nevada. Hall of Famer Efren “Bata” Reyes, topped the said event worth $500,000.