RP duo plays Thais in WC opener: Bata-Django opens title defense

MANILA, Philippines - Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, the elder ‘statesmen’ of Philippine pool, begin their bid for a third crown against an unpredictable Thailand pair today at the start of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool at the Midtown wing of the Robinson’s Place in Ermita, Manila.

 Regarded as the world’s most celebrated pair on the green felt table, Reyes and Bustamante try to live up to the hype against Thais Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Sorathep Phoochalam in the featured match at 6 p.m.

But the fancied Filipino tandem refused to predict a victory, saying the match could go either way.

“We can’t underestimate Thailand because they also have good players and they have beaten us before,” said Reyes in yesterday’s press conference at Italianni’s at the Robinson’s Place.

The pool legend was referring to their defeat to the same Thai pair in the 9-ball doubles of the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

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

The RP duo is defending champion in the event which drew 32 of the world’s best teams. Reyes and Bustamante also won the inaugurals of the meet sanctioned by the World Pool Association and four years ago in Newport, Wales where they beat USA’s E. Strickland and Rodney Morris, 13-5.

RP, being the host nation, will have two teams with Roberto Gomez and Dennis Orcollo making up the other squad.

Reyes and Bustamante edged Germany’s Rob Souquet and T. Hohmann, 11-9, in last year’s finale at SM City Mall in North Edsa.

Souquet is back in town with partner Oliver Ortmann and will face the fast-rising tandem of Hong Kong’s Lee Chenman and Kenny Kwok also at 6 p.m.

Souquet also said it’s difficult to make predictions with so many talented players in the fold.

“The presence of many great players here and in other countries make this tournament so tough,” said Souquet. “But our goal is to win it and avoid another runner-up finish.”

Ortmann, however, voiced his concern over the expected big crowd in a venue like the Robinson’s mall.

“Our biggest problem here is playing in the mall with so many people walking around as different from playing in Europe in a closed venue. It’s one problem for us. Second, we’re playing in tandem here and we’re used to playing individually,” he said.

Other opening day matches pit Canada’s John Morra and Jason Klatt against Russia’s Konstantin Stepanov and Ruslan Chinakhov and Indonesia’s Muhammad Zulfikri and Ricky Yang versus India’s Raj Hundal and Dharminder Singh Lilly at 12 noon.

China’s Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen take center stage next as they collide with Belgium’s Serge Das and Noel Bruynooghe and Italy’s Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore square off with Korea’s Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi at 3 p.m.