Bustamante Takes First League Title  Francisco Bustamante of the Philippines took his first ever 888.com World Pool League title as he beat fellow Pinoy Alex Pagulayan by a single rack in front of an enthralled audience at the N.O.T Building in Central Warsaw.
The match was nip and tuck from start to finish but in the end it was Bustamante, who won the round robin section earlier in the day, who held his nerve at the finish to take the $20,000 top prize. With the table breaking nice and easy, it was critical not to make any mistakes and on reflection it was Bustamante who looked the most assured player in the competition throughout. Bustamante drew first blood as he ran the opening rack out from the break and he stepped up the pace to open up a 3 – 1 lead and leave Pagulayan up against it. The Canadian took the next though to reduce the deficit and followed that up with a break and run to square the match at 3 – 3. Bustamante’s next break shot saw balls go down but a table length bank on the 1 ball stopped in the jaws of the pocket as the crowd willed it to drop. Pagulayan stepped up to the plate and cleared the table to win his third rack on the spin and go into the lead at 4 – 3. Pagulayan ran out of position in the next going from 2 to 3 and missed the attempt on the pot. He compounded the felony as the cue balled rolled into the bottom pocket. With ball in hand, Bustamante levelled the score at four racks each and regained the lead as he ran out from the break in the ninth game. Pagulayan found the balls locked up following his break shot but tied his opponent up in a tough snooker. Busta escaped but when the Canadian locked him up again, his escape shot left the 1 ball on and from there Pagulayan ran out to take the lead at 5 – 4. Bustamante won the next to level the match at 5 – 5 before both players had visits to the table in the eleventh game. It was a brave bank shot though from Bustamante that gave him the initiative and he seized the chance and ran the rack out to take the lead, this time at 6 – 5. With so much at stake, Pagulayan hung on in the next and ran out from the break to get back on level terms and it was game on in a race to two with Bustamante to break. When he needed it he delivered a top draw break shot and calmly potted the table to get to the hill at 7 – 6. Pagulayan though, dug deep himself to break and clear the table to set up a final rack decider for the destination of the $20,000 top prize. With the title on the line, Bustamante lost control of the white off the break but the necessary ball dropped leaving him a relatively simple road map to victory. He calmly worked his way around the table and when the final 9 ball dropped, the Polish crowd let out a huge roar. Afterwards, Bustamante was delighted with his win following a relatively lack lustre season, “It was a great win for me to beat my little brother Alex and the crowd here in Warsaw were brilliant. It was a major win and I think I played well throughout the tournament. “ Semi Final 1 Francisco Bustamante 8 – 5 Rodney Morris Francisco Bustamante made it through to the final following a solid enough performance against Rodney Morris in a match that saw both players make their share of mistakes. Missed pots, poor positional play and scratches all played their part in an entertaining encounter but in the end it was Django who had more going for him down the home straight. Morris gifted the opening rack to Bustamante in the race to eight, alternate break match when he missed a fairly simple 9 ball into the middle pocket and the Filipino made it two when he ran out from the break. Morris composed himself to win the next rack when Bustamante missed a kick shot into the middle bag to let him back to the table. Busta took the next to go two ahead at 3 -1 before Morris reduced the deficit, abetted by a nice fluke on the pink 5. Bustamante’s break shot has always been a major weapon in his arsenal and he used it to good effect in the next game to go 4 – 2 into the lead before Morris took the seventh rack in double quick time to keep his hopes alive at 4 - 3. With the balls rolling his way, Morris took the next against the break but was forced to push out in the following game with no shot on the 2 ball. He left a tempter for Bustamante which he went for successfully to regain control of the table and he cleared to go back into the lead at 5 – 4. Bustamante got lucky on the next break when the 1 ball was kicked in when it looked like a dry break was on the cards but he missed a cut on the 2 ball and Morris gratefully accepted the opportunity to level the match at 5 – 5. Just when it looked like the momentum was turning in his favour, Morris fouled in the next, when a poor kick shot missed the 1 ball completely when the pot looked on. He was furious with himself as he left a nice easy layout for Bustamante to clear and regain the lead at 6 – 5. Bustamante put himself on the hill, following a well executed run out and Morris found himself breaking to stay in the tournament. Disaster struck though when the cue ball spun out of control and found its way into the top right pocket. With ball in hand, Bustamante ran the table to book himself a slot in the final. Semi Final 2 Alex Pagulayan 8 – 7 Niels Feijen World Champion Alex Pagulayan won the second semi final in a close fought match against Holland’s Niels Feijen. The game went right down to the wire in front of a packed house in Warsaw but it was the Canadian who came up trumps in the final moments. Pagulayan opened the scoring as he ran out from the break before Feijen took the next rack after putting his opponent in an inescapable snooker. Pagulayan pushed out in the next but Feijen put him back in. However, the Canadian made an error to allow Feijen back to the table and he made no mistakes to go into the lead at 2 – 1 and further increased his advantage in the next. The next two racks went with the break to take the score to 4 – 2, but it was Feijen who looked the more composed of the two. Pagulayan delivered a quality break in the next to leave a nice open table and reduce the deficit to 4 – 3. A safety exchange ensued in the next before Pagulayan left Feijen in a tough snooker which he failed trying to escape from. With ball in hand, Pagulayan ran out to level the scores up at 4 – 4 . With his break working well, Pagulayan smashed the pack open and cleared up to take the lead for the first time in the game at 5 – 4, but Feijen stayed with him as he too ran out from the break to keep things tight at 5 – 5. A push out in the next brought Feijen back into the action and both players exchanged safety shots before Feijen missed a pot on the pink 4 as he tried to nudge it in off the 6 ball. Pagulayan made no mistakes as he cleared the table to go to 6 – 5. Niels put Pagulayan in a tight snooker in the next but an outrageous fluke allowed the Filipino to stay at the table, much to the exasperation of Feijen. He, in turn snookered Feijen, who jumped out of it but left the table open which allowed Pagulayan to take the rack and move to the hill at 7 – 5. Pagulayan threw his opponent a life line in the next when he made a very poor attempt at a snooker and left the 1 ball on. Feijen took it and then cleared the table to get to 7 – 6. Feijen’s luck deserted him on his next break shot as the 2 ball rested in a cluster with the 7 and 9 by the bottom left corner. He took what seemed like an eternity to make up his mind as he paced round the table and when he finally played it, the brown 7 rattled in the jaws of the pocket and stayed out. However, in a reversal of fortune, the black 8 was knocked down table into the corner pocket to leave Niels at the table. He cleared from there to go hill-hill at seven racks apiece. In the final rack it was down to Pagulayan to break and the luck was with him as the table spread out invitingly before him. His only problem was holding the cue ball for the blue 3 which he did to perfection and he calmly cleared to book his spot in the race to eight final. Standings and Pay Outs 1 Francisco Bustamante $20,000 2 Alex Pagulayan $10,000 3&4 Rodney Morris, Niels Feijen $7,000 5&6 Steve Davis, Thomas Engert $3,000 Final League Table Plyd Won Drwn Lost For Away Pts +/- 1 F Bustamante 5 3 2 0 29 21 8 +8 2 A Pagulayan 5 1 3 1 25 25 5 0 3 N Feijen 5 2 1 2 23 27 5 -4 4 R Morris 5 1 2 2 25 25 4 0 5 T Engert 5 1 2 2 24 26 4 -2 6 S Davis 5 1 2 2 24 26 4 -2 Visit Inside POOL for the latest news from the World Pool League.
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