Bata, Django on collision course

Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante thumped their respective rivals in similar fashion Wednesday but found themselves clashing for a finals berth in the International Challenge of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA.

Reyes, the defending champion in the rich winner-take-all event offering $50,000 to the winner, pulled off a 7-4 victory over Dutch champion Nick Van Den Berg, while Bustamante overwhelmed English champion Daryl Peach, 7-3, in the other match in the lower bracket of the tennis-style format event.

The ace Filipino cue masters dispute the championship slot at 5 p.m. Thursday after the 4 p.m. match between Canadian John Horsfall and American Earl Strickland in the other semifinal encounter of the short, knockout-style format event which drew eight of the world’s best players.

The winners clash for the $50,000 prize at 7 p.m., also Friday.

Horsfall, the Canadian 9-ball champion, led the semifinalists by pouncing on the off-form Ralf Souquet of Germany and fashioning out a 7-5 in the first of four matches.

Strickland, on the other hand, reasserted his supremacy over Chinese-Taipei superstar Yang Ching-shun whom he beat in the world 9-ball championship in Cardiff, Wales last month, scoring a 7-2 romp this time.

Reyes, the leader in the current Player Money list with $40,550 in earnings, raced to a 3-1 lead but an errant shot in the fifth rack enabled Van Den Berg to cut the deficit to 2-3.

The Dutch, however, fell prey to his soft breaks and Reyes went on to post a 6-4 lead before taking the next rack to wrap up the match.