Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante (born December 29, 1963) is a Filipino professional pool player from Tarlac, Central Luzon and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the 1966 film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States. Bustamente has won over 70 International *les.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Professional career
- 3 *les and Achievements
- 4 References
- 5 External links
Early life
Bustamante is the youngest of eight siblings. He picked up the nickname "Django" because his character and his appearance with a cigarette in his mouth was reminiscent of the movie character of that name. His father made a living through building toilets and planting rice, and Bustamante also worked in these activities. He began working in his sister's pool hall, racking and spotting balls on the tables, and practising alone on the tables after the hall had closed.
Bustamente never completed high school and concentrated on pocket billiards from 10 years of age. After some success in the Philippines, Bustamante moved to Germany where he stayed for over ten years, competing in a number of tournaments in Europe.
Professional career
Bustamante has won *les including the Munich Masters, the German Nine-ball Championship, and the All *an Championship.With his win in Tulsa, Bustamante became champion of the 1998 Camel Pro Billiards Series year-long point fund. He then finished the season by winning the Columbus 10-Ball Open and becoming the first player to win three Camel *les in one season. His Columbus 10-Ball *le completed the first ever Camel trifecta, with *les in each of the three games contested on the Camel Pro Billiards Series: eight-ball, nine-ball and ten-ball. Known for his flamboyant style at the table and behind-the-back shots, Bustamente also holds the world record for having the most powerful break shot.
In 1999, Bustamante finished third in the WPA World Nine-ball Championship after losing to Efren Reyes, who went on to win. A few months later he won the International Challenge of Champions. He won that tournament again three years later.
The next year, Bustamante won the Motolite 9-ball Tournament, an event held in the Philippines, beating Antonio Lining. The victory prize was $30,000, the largest first prize offered in a Philippine-held tournament at that time.
In 2002, Bustamante received a phone call from his wife during the World Pool Championships, informing him that his daughter, who was less than a year old, had died. Bustamante considered forfeiting his contention at the tournament to return to the Philippines, but some people around including fellow countryman Efren Reyes convinced him to go on. On his way to the final, Bustamante beat Antonio Lining in the last 16, Efren Reyes in the quarter finals, and Ching Shun Yang in the semis. In the final, he met Earl Strickland, twice winner of the tournament. After leading for most of the match, Bustamante lost the match 17–15.
Bustamante won the Peninsula Nine-ball Open, Gabriel's Las Vegas International Nine-ball tournament, the IBC Tokyo Nine-ball International, and the All *an Nine-ball Championship. He also won the Sudden Death Seven-ball tournament, dedicating the victory to his daughter. With this string of victories, he became the AZBilliards 2002 Player of the Year.
Bustamante won the World Pool League in 2004, defeating world nine-ball champion Alex Pagulayan. He reached the finals of that event in 2001 but was beaten by Steve Knight.
In 2007, he was undefeated in the United States Pro Tour Championship held at the Normandie Casino in Los Angeles, California.
For 2007, he was ranked #7 in Pool & Billiard Magazine's "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.
He competed in the 2008 WPA World Straight Pool Championship as the only Filipino player, in his first straight pool event. In the end, he finished second behind Niels Feijen.
In 2010, Bustamante again reached the finals of the World Nine-ball Championship, winning the match and the *le against Taiwan's Kuo Po-cheng.
On July 27, 2010, Francisco Bustamante, along with Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart, founders of the American Pool Players *ociation (APA), were elected to the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame, and inducted on October 21, 2010. Bustamante was the second player from the Philippines to be inducted, after Efren Reyes.
*les and Achievements
References
External links
- Francisco Bustamante Matches
- Francisco Bustamante on cover of Inside Pool Magazine Archived June 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Francisco Bustamante image gallery at Inside Pool Magazine
- Inside Pool Magazine Interview with Francisco Bustamante at Derby City Cl*ic