Legendary Filipino cue masters Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante and veterans Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany sealed a classic titular showdown following their respective victories in the semifinals of the 2009 PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool being held at The Annex of SM North Edsa in Quezon City. Reyes and Bustamante needed to dig deeper into their vast repertoire of shots to thwart off Fu Jian-bo and Li He-wen of China, 9-8 while Souquet and Hohmann foiled a projected all-Filipino finals when they beat hometown pair of Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano, 9-6.

Rallying at the finish, the Chinese put the Filipino pair and their fans on the edge of their seats only to blink in the most crucial moment of the epic match.

At 8-8, Fu missed a 1-2 carom to yield the table to the Filipinos.

Reyes and Bustamante seized the great opportunity, clearing the table to the delight of the crowd.
”Philippines-Germany is the better finale. It’s gonna be a great match,” said Hohmann.

”Efren Reyes is my favorite player. A final match with him and his partner Django Bustamante will be another highlight of my career,” added Souquet.

Hohmann and Souquet pounced on crucial misses by Alcano in the critical moment of their semifinal match.

The second seeded RP-A had just drew level with Germany at 6-6 when Alcano committed key miscues, allowing the Germans to regain momentum and go on to win the match watched by a big crowd, including Filipino world boxing champion Brian Viloria.

Alcano and Orcollo, among the younger stars in the deep pool of Filipino billiards talents, settled for a semis finish worth $16,000 in the elite event presented by Matchroom Sport in cooperation with local partner Solar Sports.

The finals is ongoing as of presstime.
Emil C. Noguera