Bustamante-Reyes tandem seeks World Pool three-peat

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino pool legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante renew their celebrated partnership as they shoot for a third straight crown in the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool slated Sept. 7-12 at the Midtown wing of the Robinson’s Place Manila.

“We hope to win it again but it’s going to be difficult because there are many good players out there,” said Reyes, in Filipino, during the event launch yesterday at the Solar Century Tower in Makati City.

“We’re expecting another exciting tournament just like last year,” said Solar main man Wilson Cheng.

The Philippines has been awarded a second slot by Matchroom Sport, which owns the franchise, being the host country, paving the way for the inclusion of another explosive pair in Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez.

The Reyes-Bustamante team, which topped the inaugural edition four years ago in Newport, Wales and last year at the SM North Edsa, opens its campaign on Sept. 7 by taking on Thailand’s Nitiwat Kanjanasari and Surathep Poochalam at 6 p.m.

Reyes said they’re not underestimating the Thais considering they lost to the same team in the nine-ball doubles of the 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games.

“We’re still embarrassed by that loss,” said Reyes.

Orcollo and Gomez, which replaced Ronnie Alcano, will debut on Sept. 8 against Croatia’s Carlo Dalmatin and Philipp Stojanovic also at 6 p.m. of this event participated in by 32 duos from 31 countries.

A total cash of $250,000 will be staked in the six-day event with the champions pocketing the top prize of $60,000 and the runners-up claiming $30,000.

Finland’s Mika “The Iceman” Immonen and Markus Java, Germany’s Ralf Soquet and Oliver Ortmann, Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi and Chang Jung Lin and the United States’ Rodney Morris and Johnny Archer are among the participants that are expected to seriously challenge for the title.