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Semi-Final - Saturday 20th July -Race to 11

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Bustamante Through To First World Pool Final
Francisco Bustamante of the Philippines won through to tomorrow's final of the 2002 Hasseroder World Pool Championship after a superb match of the highest quality against Taiwan's Ching-shun Yang.
The arena was standing room only at the CIA as two of the finest cueman in the world met up in the race-to-eleven match.
Bustamante, who learned of the death of his eight month old daughter Mariel on Friday night, seemed set to quit the tournament at the last 16 stage but after deep thought decided to carry on. He went on to beat fellow countrymen Antonio Lining 11 - 10 after being 10 - 6 in arrears and followed it up with an epic 11 - 8 win over 1999 Champ and Pinoy legend Efren Reyes. Yang, the 24 year-old World Games Champion with one of the smoothest strokes in the game had won through after a runaway 11 - 2 win over former two time champion, America's Johnny Archer.
MC John McDonald's introductions from the floor, with passages in their respective native tongues for both players, set the scene for what was to be an epic encounter.
Yang won the lag and exploded the pack with one of the most effective break shots in the game. With the balls well positioned, he ran out to open his account. In the second, Yang had no real shot on the 2-ball and a poor safety gave Django, the 38 year-old from Tarlac, the opportunity to run out. Bustamante, who has found his break in Cardiff, crunched it home in the third and fourth racks to take a 3 - 1 lead. As if to emphasise his breaking power, Busta made four balls off his next break and a formality run out increased the lead to 4 - 1. Yang got back to the table in the next to try and extricate himself from a snooker but he left the 3-ball on which gave Francisco the opportunity to further increase his lead.
Bustamante made his only mistake of the entire game in the seventh rack when, with no shot on the 1-ball, he made a push-out which Yang elected to make him play again. Busta played a loose shot which gave Yang the foot in the door he was looking for. He ran out from there to pull one back. Yang wasted no time and broke and ran the next three to level the game at five racks apiece. Bustamante got back to the table in each of the next two games but only to attempt difficult safeties, both of which gave opportunities to Yang which he took to move into a 7 - 5 lead. It was the thirteenth rack that was to prove unlucky for Yang as he ran out of position on the 3-ball and played a moderate safety shot. Bustamante then trapped Yang in a tough snooker and attempting the jump shot, he bounced into the intervening ball to give Django ball in hand. From there he cleared to go just one behind and a stonking break in the next saw four balls drop and Busta ran out to level the match. That was Yang's last contribution to the match as Francisco Bustamante broke and ran the next four to take victory. The final 9-ball, a cut into the bottom right bag, saw Busta get up off the shot as its significance dawned. He made it though and the 500 plus crowd in the arena erupted in an outpouring of support for the gutsy Bustamante.
Afterwards Francisco said, "I'm playing for the Philippines now and there was a lot of support in the crowd for me. "Yang is a good player and he hardly made any mistakes but I wanted to win very badly and I will be ready for tomorrow night's final. "I didn't feel as much pressure against Yang as I did against Efren but when I was 7 - 5 behind I knew I needed just one more chance and that would be enough."
Ching-shun Yang earns US$17.500 as a losing semi-finalist and Bustamante will earn either $30.000 or $65.000 tomorrow.

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