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TEAM
Villards-Philippines’ Francisco “Django” Bustamante and
Dennis Orcollo are hoping to duck the upset ax that
already claimed two seeded teams right on opening day as
the Filipino duo take on an unheralded pair from Denmark
today in the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool in
Rotterdam, Holland.
The
Filipinos, seeded second in the field of 32, collides
with the No.31 tandem of Martin Larsen and Kasper
Kristoffersen in the last match of the day.
 “The
field is very tough,” assessed Bustamante. “That’s why
we need to come up with our best right from the start to
avoid any upset, just like what happened to those two
teams.”
Bustamante was referring to last year’s runner-up
Finland, which succumbed to a lower-ranked opponent.
No.3
Holland A of world No. 2 Niels Feijen and Nick van den
Berg lost to No.30 Belgium composed of little-known Noel
Bruynooghe and Serge Das, 8-3.
No.8
Finland, bannered by former world champion Mika Immonen
and Markus Juva dropped an 8-4 decision against Korea’s
Jeong Young-hwa and Kim Woong-dae.
“A
race-to-eight match is very short, so you need to have a
strong start. Hangga’t maaari nga ’wag mo nang
patirahin ’yung kalaban, dahil baka ’pag binigay mo
’yung mesa hindi ka na makabalik,” said world No.1
Orcollo, whose campaign with Bustamante is supported by
Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa
Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports and the Billiards
Managers and Players Association of the Philippines.
Other
opening-round matches saw defending champion and No. 1
seed China beating No. 32 India, 8-6; No. 5 England, led
by reigning world 9-ball titlist Darryl Peach, defeating
Malta, 8-4; No. 9 Italy blasting Peru, 8-4; and No. 16
Switzerland prevailing over Hong Kong, 8-5.
A team
needs to win five straight matches to hoist the World
Cup of Pool, one of the most prestigious billiards
titles in the world. |
