Francisco Bustamante (born December 29, 1963) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

professional

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

player from

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

Central Luzon Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...

and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the 1966 film of the same name, 2002 AZBilliards Player of the Year
interview with Bustamante and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Bustamante has won over 70 International titles.

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. Bustamante 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 titles including the Munich Masters, the German Nine-ball Championship, and the All Japan Championship. With his win in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, 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 titles in one season. His Columbus 10-Ball title completed the first ever Camel trifecta, with titles in each of the three games contested on the Camel Pro Billiards Series: eight-ball, nine-ball and

ten-ball Ten-ball is a rotation pool game similar to nine-ball, but using ten balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the 9 as the "" Although the game has existed for since the early 1960s, its popularity has risen since the early 2000s ...

. Known for his flamboyant style at the table and behind-the-back shots, Bustamante also holds the world record for having the most powerful break shot. In 1999, Bustamante finished third in the

WPA World Nine-ball Championship The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professional nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Spor ...

after losing to Efren Reyes, who went on to win. A few months later he won the

International Challenge of Champions The International Challenge of Champions is an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has always been broadcast on ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming ...

. 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 Antonio Lining (born May 9, 1963, in Mindoro, Philippines) is a Filipino pool player, nicknamed "Nikoy". He is one of the few left-handed Asian players. Lining's most notable appearance was in the Motolite International Nine-ball Tournament in 2 ...

. 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 Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954), popularly known by the nickname "Bata" (English: "Kid"), is a Filipino professional pool player. Reyes is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. A winner of over 100 inte ...

convinced him to go on. On his way to the final, Bustamante beat

in the last 16,

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 Japan 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 Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

. 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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. 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 The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the early 21st century, tournaments like the Amer ...

where he finished second behind

Niels Feijen Niels Feijen (born 3 February 1977, The Hague) is a Dutch professional pool player, from the Hague. His nickname is "the Terminator". In 2014 he won the WPA World 9-ball championship. Career In 2001, Feijen reached the finals of a nine-ball t ...

, becoming the only Filipino player to reach the finals of the event. In 2010, Bustamante again reached the finals of the World Nine-ball Championship, winning the match and the title 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 Association (APA), were elected to the

Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame This is the list of people inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's hall of fame to honour outstanding people who, through their competitive skills and dedication, have enriched the sport and industry. Two categories have been established in ...

, and inducted on October 21, 2010. Bustamante was the second player from the Philippines to be inducted, after Efren Reyes.

Titles and Achievements

References

External links

Francisco Bustamante MatchesFrancisco Bustamante on cover of ''Inside Pool Magazine''

Francisco Bustamante image gallery at ''Inside Pool Magazine''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bustamante, Francisco 1963 births Filipino pool players Living people Sportspeople from Tarlac Place of birth missing (living people) World champions in pool Asian Games medalists in cue sports Cue sports players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games WPA World Nine-ball Champions Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines)