Bustamante and Abraham Co-Champions at Blaze Stop

One Shot Billiards hosted Blaze 9 Ball Tour Sunday August 31, 2008.  A strong field came out player’s like Francisco Bustamante, Matt Krah, Eddie Abraham, and  Mike Fingers to name a few.

Leading the top half of the bracket was Matt Krah with wins over Ben Sadowski 7-4, Jose Burgos 7-0, and Noel Bensurto 7-2.  Leading  the bottom half of the bracket was Francisco Bustamante with wins over Mike Seas 7-2, Eddie Abraham 7-4  Playing for the hot seat was Mat Krah Vs Francisco Bustamante this was a great match that went to the hill when it was all said and done it was Francisco Bustamante winning the match 7-6 and sending Matt Krah to the one lost side.  Waiting for Matt Krah on the one lost side was Eddie Abraham, this too was a great match that went to the hill but it was Eddie Abraham with the win 7-6.

Playing in the finals was Eddie Abraham Vs Francisco Bustamante  both players are co-champions of the tournament.

ACKDO Supports QC Vs The World Grand Billiards Showdown

The QC-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown received another boost with the Association of Clubs, Karaoke and Disco Operators (ACKDO) throwing its all-out support to the much-anticipated event slated December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City .

With promoting Quezon City as the country’s sports tourism capital, ACKDO did not think twice in backing the project when approached by its chief proponent, City Council Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton.

“We are very happy to be part of this big event. Entertainment is one of the premier tourist attractions here in Quezon City, so we in the industry are giving our all-out support to this project, which in more than one way will also benefit us,” said ACKDO secretary-general Amil Yap.

ACKDO has been supporting a number of sports events, including the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP)'s Search for the New Billiards Idol series.

Also known as the “City of Stars ”, Quezon City boasts of having the biggest and liveliest entertainment spots in the country.

Already home to major television broadcasting networks, including giants ABS-CBN and GMA-7, Quezon City also houses dozens of restaurants, bars, night clubs, massage parlors, KTVs and the likes.

Pool icon Efren “Bata” Reyes banners the eight-man Team Q.C.-Philippines, which will pit prowess against a selection of topnotch cue artists from other countries in this three-day competition supported by the Quezon City Government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte, QC Tourism Council headed by chairman Raffy Chico, and BMPAP with Solar Sports, RPN and the Philippine Star as media partners.

Besides Reyes, the other members of the Team QC Philippines are fellow former world champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, reigning world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

They will go up against a foreign team also led by three former world titlists in Chia-Ching Wu of Chinese-Taipei, Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany. The other players of Team World are 2006 Asian Games gold medalist Satoshi Kawabata of Japan , Ching-Shun Yang of Chinese-Taipei, and Charlie William and Rodney Morris of the United States and another top European player.

They will compete for the $40,000 winner purse.

Bustamante on QC-RP faces The World

Billiards superstars Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante will banner the Philippines’ charge against a selection of top foreign cue artists in the 9-Ball Grand Billiards Showdown Quezon City will host from Dec. 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall.

Reyes and Bustamante will lead an eight-man squad against eight equally-talented foreign pool masters in a team tournament where the winning group gets the ,000 (R1,800,000) cash prize.

Reyes and Bustamante will be joined by Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, reigning world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco in the dream billiards match dubbed as Quezon City-Philippines vs the World.

"This event will not only showcase the talents our players but promote Quezon City as sports hub of the Philippines," said event organizer and QC Councilor Ariel Inton during yesterday’s formal launching of the tournament at the Mario’s Restaurant in Tomas Morato.

The three-day event, which is a joint project of Inton, Quezon City Sports Tourism Council led by Raffy Chico and Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) headed by Perry Mariano, is aimed at promoting the Quezon City as the billiards destination of the world.

Except for Bustamante, all members of Team Philippines were on hand to display their solid ground against their equally competitive opponents who will be coming to town in the next few months.

The foreign invasion will be spearheaded by Finish Mika Immonem, German Thorsten Hohmann and former European No. 1 Russian Konstantin Stepanov.

Also joining the foreign squad are Americans Charlie Williams and Rodney Morris, Taiwanese Yung Ching Shunand Wu Chia Ching and 2006 Asian Games gold medalist Japanese Sotoshi Kawabata.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte and Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista were also in attendance to add glitter to the star-studded gathering which saw the formal unveiling of the logo of the tournament.

"I’m honored to meet our world champions and some of them pa nga ay legendary na tulad in Efren," said Belmonte, who also signed a Memorandum of Agreement that formally accepted the city’s hosting of the event.

"Dito sa Quezon City, tanggap na tanggap ang billiards dahil dito mismo nakatira ang mga billiard players natin," said Belmonte, boasting that reigning World No. 1 Orcullo was a recipient of last year’s Outstanding QC Citizen award.

"Unstoppable ang Quezon City at ang billiards. Hindi na mapi-pigilan ang pag-unlad. We hope to make our city the sports capital," Belmonte said.

For his part, Bautista cited the honor and pride the billiards players bring to the country and even thanked Reyes for his exploits in the past that made the country known to the world of billiards.

BMPAP co-founder Jonathan Sy, BMPAP president Atty. Vic Rodriguez, Solar Sports Vice president for Marketing Jude Torcuato, Quezon City Councilors Toto Medalla and Vincent Belmonte, members of the Quezon City Chamber of Commerce, heads of the Quezon City-Red Cross Chapter were also present.

Django routed in New Jersey straight-pool finals

Francisco “Django" Bustamante lost to Neils Feijen of The Netherlands, 200-11, in the championship round of the World 14.1 Straight Pool Championships held Saturday in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Feijen stormed to an 80-0 lead and never looked back to win $14,000. Bustamante settled for the runner-up purse worth $6,000 (P277,740).

To reach the finals, Bustamante defeated Danny Harriman of the US 200-137, Huidji See of The Netherlands 200-141 and Jasmin Ouschan of Austria 200-148 in that order.

The object of straight pool, also called the 14.1 game, is to pocket as many balls as possible to reach the required number of points. One ball is equivalent to one point.