Bata out; it’s Django vs Pagulayan in final

In a virtual rematch of their previous title showdown, defending champion Francisco "Django" Bustamante and world pool titlist Alex Pagulayan will dispute the championship in the Hope P1-Million All-Filipino Billiards Challenge II at the LS-2 Studio of IBC-13 in Quezon City.

Bustamante brought down Efren "Bata" Reyes, 11-6, while Pagulayan nosed out Lee Van Corteza, 11-7, in a pair of semifinal matches late Saturday night to set up a much-awaited title showdown in the prestigious event being sponsored by Hope in cooperation with Puyat Sports and Jemah Television.

It will be the second time that Bustamante and Pagulayan earned the right to dispute the title.

In their previous showdown, Bustamante rallied to beat Pagulayan, 15-13, to rule the initial staging of this event, considered as the richest All-Filipino competition this year.

Pagulayan, however, exacted revenge over Bustamante, 9-3, in their quarterfinal meeting of the double-elimination tournament late Friday night.

"It will be an interesting showdown once again," said Bustamante, who is hoping to add another title to his vast collection and pocket the top prize of P500,000 put up by Hope.

The runner-up will bring home P200,000.

Bustamante had a surprisingly easy assignment against Reyes, "The Magician" himself.

He easily took the first two racks and after exchanging run outs, cleaned up then ext two for a commanding 6-2 lead.

After Reyes elected to push on the final serve in the alternate break match, Bustamante rose to the challenge and came up with a length-of-the-table shot on the yellow ball.

"Mataas na ang kumpiyansa ko nung walang pumasok sa unang break ni Efren (Reyes). Parang plus two na din yun dahil alternate break ang laban," said Bustamante.

Pagulayan, on the other hand, had a difficult time against Corteza.

The 26-yar old Filipino-Canadian, who dropped only six racks in the earlier rounds, fell 0-5 early and trailed 2-7 before closing the match with a nine straight winners.

Pagulayan scored his first run out on his sixth break to come within 5-7 — a far cry from his flawless performance against Bustamante where he ran out all six of his serves. But after reaching the hill on the 17th, Pagulayan completed his second run out to close the match.