FILIPINO POOL legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante try to sustain their brilliant partnership as they start defense of the Partypoker.Net World Cup of Pool crown today at the Midtown wing of Robinsons Place in Manila.
Bustamante, a billiards Hall of Famer like Reyes, will be playing his first tournament since winning the World 9-Ball Championship last June in Doha, Qatar.
“I hope he continues to get lucky in this tournament so that we can make our countrymen happy again,” Reyes said in Filipino.
Winners of the tournament twice, Reyes and Bustamante open their bid for another crown against Thailand’s Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Surathep Phoochalam at 6 p.m. The match will be aired live on Solar Sports.
“We will be playing in front of Filipinos so that would be another advantage for us,” said the 47-year-old Bustamante at a press conference at Italiannis in Robinsons Manila.
The Filipinos have a score to settle against the Thais, who beat them in the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos.
The other Filipino pair of Roberto Gomez and Dennis Orcollo battles Croatia’s Carlo Dalmatin and Phillip Stojanovic tomorrow.
The Scotch Doubles event stakes $250,000 with the winning pair pocketing $60,000.
“I think at least 10 teams have a good chance of winning here,” said Germany’s Ralf Souquet, the losing finalist with Thorstenn Hohmann last year, who will have a new partner in Oliver Ortmann for the 32-team event.
The Germans battle Hong Kong’s Lee Chen-men and Kenny Kwok, while China’s formidable pair of Li Hewen and Fu Jianbo clashes with Belgium’s Serge Das and Noel Bruynooghe.
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