Boyes Beats Bustamante at Philippines World Pool Championship

Boyes Beats Bustamante at Philippines World Pool Championship
Karl Boyes is the second English player to make it through to the semi-finals of the Philippines World Pool Championship following a hard-fought 11-8 win over local hope Joven Bustamante.
Earlier, Daryl Peach, who also comes from the same English town as Boyes – Blackpool – caused a shocking upset as he eliminated Filipino legend Francisco Bustamante 11-10 in a dramatic finale.
Boyes, playing in the event for the first time, arrived at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City as a complete unknown although his track record on the English 8 Ball circuit and some good performances on the short-lived International Pool Tour indicated that he is a cueman to be reckoned with.
He has come through the group stages with two straight wins over former WPC runner-up Chang Pei-wei of Taiwan and Serbian surprise package Goran Mladenovic.
Further wins against Serbian and Korean opposition cemented his reputation but it was his 11-4 win over European No.1 Konstantin Stepanov that made the pool world sit up and take notice.
With a country with so much strength in depth, Joven Bustamante was always likely to be a tough proposition but from 2-2 Boyes was never behind.
At 9-4 the Englishman was in the driving seat but Bustamante came back at him and at 9-8 with break he was favourite for the win. Boyes though got back to the table to secure the rack and take the next for a fantastic victory.

It’s unbelievable, said Boyes. It was a close game, I was 9-4 up but then it was 9-8.
You feel so many emotions – it’s crazy out there. You’re thinking at 9-4 I should then be on the hill and your opponent can’t win but the next minute it’s 9-8 and he’s got four balls to pot.
Against Konstantin on television I won so convincingly and I just wanted to win this match.
Before this tournament it was all about playing certain players for me. If I was up against someone I had played before then I would fancy winning but if I was up against someone I didn’t know then I would be worried.
In the last quarter-final match, Roberto Gomez kept alive the home fans’ hopes of a second succesive Filipino champion.
He defeated Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Po-cheng 11-4 to complete the final four line-up. It means there will be two Englishmen, one Filipino and a Hungarian in the semi-finals.
However, there will be no Chinese Taipei players in the line-up, only the second time in nine years that has happened.
Gomez admitted he was feeling the strain of being the last player from the home country left in.
It’s added pressure for me, said Gomez. I want a Filipino to win this whole tournament but now I’m the only one left so I’m really under pressure.
It’s so amazing to be here in the semi-final and I feel confident I can go all the way.