Django, Bata battle Malaysians next

Filipino pool sensations Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante, who made short work of their Malta rivals in the first round, are expected to have another easy outing against another lowly-regarded opponent in Malaysia in Round 2 of the inaugural World Cup of Pool in Newport, Wales.

The top-seeded Reyes-Bustamante pair will be up against Malaysians Ibrahim Amir and Patrick Ooi Fook Yuen who openly admit their admiration of the two top Filipino players. The two teams are to clash late Thursday night.

Reyes and Bustamante started their campaign in the event offering a top prize of $60,000 with a 9-0 demolition of Malta’s tandem of Tony Drago and Alex Borg just in 50 minutes.

Amir and Yuen made the second round by topping Qatar’s Bashar Hussain and Fahad Mohammadi, 9-3.

The Malaysians are not totally patsies since they’re ranked No. 16 in the 32-nation field.

Yuen, 33, was a 9-ball gold medallist in the 1997 Southeast Asian Games while Amir, 44, was the 2004 Thailand Open 9-ball champion.

But Drago tipped the Philippines to go on and win the tournament. "These guys are so good and we have just played two of the greatest players of all time," said Drago in an internet report.

"We came here to try and win and we aren’t disappointed to lose because I believe they’re the best team here but nobody wants to lose 9-0," Drago said.

Malta won the lag but Borg, a professional snooker player, showed his lack of pool experience as he scratched after hitting the blue two which had been partially hidden by the orange five. Philippines needed no second invitation and quickly moved into a 1-0 lead and it became evident they would punish any mistakes from Drago and Borg.

Reyes and Bustamante aren’t taking the Malaysians lightly since even some of the best teams in the $250,000 meet failed to make it past first round.

A pair of upsets marred the tournament just before the Round 16 begins as Hong Kong and Spain posted stunning victories at the expense of their seeded rivals.

Spain’s David Alcaide and Rafael Guzman booted out the England A pair of Raj Hundal and Ronnie O’Sullivan — seeded 13th — in a thriller, 9-8, while the Hong Kong tandem of Lee Chenman and Kong Man-ho ousted sixth seed Sweden, composed of Marcus Chamat and Tom Storn, in a similar stirring victory, 9-8.

Their inspiring wins put them in a direct collision with two other top seeded teams in the second round, with Spain meeting fourth ranked Germany (Thomas Engert and Oliver Ortmann) and Hong Kong clashing with no. 11 Russia.

Just like the opening round, the Round of 16 and Round of 8 are race-to-9 matches, while the semis is a race-to-11 and the championship a race-to-13.

Others which clinched a seat in the second round are Czech Republic, Canada, fifth seeded Taiwan, Japan, no. 3 USA with Earl ‘The Pearl’ Strickland and Rodney Morris on board, and England B.