Last four Pinoys gain IPT Last 18

Francisco "Django" Bustamante dealt Oliver Ortmann of Germany his first loss via a thrilling 8-7 victory to remain the only unbeaten player after four rounds of the IPT World Open 8-ball Championship at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada Thursday (Friday in Manila).

Bustamante’s win over the German ace in a match that saw some excellent play from both players extended the Filipino’s amazing run to 18 games, including victories over American Danny Harriman, 8-6, Tony Drago, 8-1, Marko Lohtander, 8-1, and compatriot Antonio Lining, 8-3.

He also towed three other Filipinos, including former world 9-ball champions Efren "Bata" Reyes and Alex Pagulayan and Dennis Orcollo, into the last 18 of the $3 million event as Ronnie Alcano, Jose Parica and Antonio Lining bowed out with stinging setbacks.

"I made a ball on the break one time but I think I just got lucky he didn’t run out every time," said Bustamante, slowly emerging as the man to beat for the whopping $500,000 top purse. "But tomorrow (today) is a different day. You’ll never know but I will try hard."

His opponents should try harder as Bustamante sets out the top favorite to clinch one of the two berths staked in Group 79 that includes Karl Boyes, Hsia Hui-kai, Corey Deuel and Rodney Morris of the US and David Alcaide of Spain as 8-ball action heats up with the staging of the fifth round Friday.

The surviving field is grouped into three of six players with only the top two players advancing to the round-robin phase. Losers will each receive $36,000. The top two finishers will then battle it out for the richest purse offered in an 8-ball event.

While Bustamante continued to dominate, Reyes sustained his quiet yet efficient march to the next round, posting four victories that more than made up for his 6-8 setback to American Charles Williams.

Reyes, who teamed up with Bustamante to rule the inaugural World Cup of Pool last month in Wales, held off Jason Miller, 8-6, then blasted three rivals in emphatic fashions — Charles Bryant, 8-2, and Ben Davies, 8-3, and Morris, 8-3.

Unlike Bustamante and Reyes, Pagulayan needed to scramble his way to get into the next round, winning three of his five matches then beating Italian Fabio Petroni in the tiebreak for the last spot in Group 77.

Pagulayan, who topped the National Open last month, joined Reyes in the tough Group 81 that includes Michael Hill, Dimitri Jungo and Germans Thomas Engert and Ortmann.

Orcollo emerged the darkhorse among the RP survivors as he racked three victories, including an 8-6 win over Parica that helped him gain a spot in the next round. He, however, found himself bunched in a talent-laden group of German Ralf Souquet, Finland’s Mika Immonen, American Charles Williams, Dutch Niels Feijen and Danny Harriman of the US.