Django, Orcollo, Reyes in Last 64

Defending champion Francisco “Django” Bustamante and fellow Filipino stars Dennis Orcollo and Efren “Bata” Reyes hurdled separate foes last Monday night to barge into the 64-player knockout stage of the 2011 World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

Bustamante subdued Kuwait’s Alazmi Majed, 9-4, in Group D while Orcollo and Reyes dumped Venezuela’s Jalal Yousef and Russia’s Konstantin Stepanov by similar 9-3 scores in Group A.

Other Filipinos who advanced with two wins each were Carlo Biado, Oliver Medenilla, Jeffrey de Luna, Allan Cuartero and Antonio Lining.

Biado routed Korea’s Le Gun Kae, 9-2 in Group D; Medenilla repulsed Vietnam’s Nguyen Phuong Thao, 9-6 in Group G; De Luna bested Indonesia’s Riyan Setiawan, 9-4 in Group H; Cuartero defeated Sweden’s Marcus Chamat, 9-5 in Group L; and Lining tripped Japan’s Tohru Kouribayashi, 9-4 in Group P.

Meanwhile, former double-world champion Ronato Alcano and countryman Israel Rota fell into the losers’ bracket after suffering bitter losses.

Alcano yielded to Poland’s Radoslaw Babica, 9-8 in Group M while Rota bowed to Chinese-Taipei’s Chang Yu-lun, 9-3 in Group K.

Alcano and Rota must win their remaining matches in the losers bracket to earn places in the last 64 slots.

Other notables who advanced were Shane Van Boening who nipped Taiwanese ace Wu Chia-ching, 9-8, streaking Chris Melling of England and former world champion and frequent Philippine visitor Mika Immonen of Finland. /INQUIRER with Correspondent Marlon Bernardino