PEACH BREAKS THE HEARTS RP FANS, BEATS DJANGO IN CONTROVERSIAL FASHION
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Nov 2007
QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES -- ENGLISHMAN Daryl Peach broke the hearts of the Filipino fans by beating hometown favorite Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 11-10, in an intense and controversial quarter-final game this afternoon at the Big Dome in the ongoing 2007 Philippine World Pool Championship.
Drama at the 20th rack took center stage when Django, thinking he had won after successfully potting what looked like a one rail 3-9 carom, was dumbfounded when veteran referee Nigel Rees of Wales stopped play on the suspicion that the miraculous shot was a foul.
Consulting with the slow motion video replays verified Rees's suspicions as the striped nine clearly budged first before the object ball on the combination attempt justifying the judgment call.
Unhappy with the decision, Django tried desperately to plead his case, even calling out World Pool Association Sports Director Thomas Overbeck in the hopes of producing an overrule. However, after much deliberation, the foul call was retained much to the disgust of local fans rooting for their sentimental favorite.
Overbeck said: "I hate to be in that position. Me and Bustamante go a long way back, but a foul's a foul and we can't be doing the players any favors. Nigel (Rees) made a great decision - the right decision. In the end it was his call to make and we should all respect that. It was just unfortunate for Bustamante to go lose this way but this stuff happens."
"The referee consulted me and Mikaela (Tabb) and he used the slow motion in TV to decide the said situation.," said Overbeck.
When play resumed, it took all the heart and courage for an obviously shaken up Peach to take over where Bustamante left off. But, showcasing courage and heart befitting of a champion, the cue master hailing from Blackpool, England silenced the hostile crowd as he stroked true to clean the rack and bring the first quarterfinals of the day to a mouthwatering hill-hill.
Another flawless execution in the final frame saw Peach come away with a cool and calculated break and run-out to crush the heart of the popular Filipino and escape with the 11-10 victory.
Asked about the foul, an understandably disappointed Bustamante commented: "If it was a foul, the referee should have made the call then and there. We should not have to go to the replay and tournament director to sort these things out.
On the part of Peach, "I knew everybody wanted the local player to win but it's a foul and we saw in replays on TV," said Peach who ousted defending champ Ronato Alcano in the round-of-64.
Peach will face three-time WPA world junior champ Vilmos Foldes of Hungary in the semi-final round, winner over 2001 WPC winner Mika "The Iceman" Immonen ng Finland, 11-7.
Resuming the use of the controversial soft break at TV table 1, Bustamante ran out in first try at the table.
But perhaps getting too comfortable with the predictable table conditions, a hurried shot surprisingly misses the easiest shot at the table an 8 ball roll towards the corner. Puts Peach on the scoring board 1-1.
Rack three first break and run out for Peach.
Rack four, Bustamante leaves the pink four exposed after a long series of safety exchanges which gave Peach an open table for a routine clean up job to climb up and extend the lead, 3-1.
Two unforced errors by Django put Peach on a 9-4 lead. A scratch in the 14th frame by Peach allowed Django to come back in the game after clustering six consecutive racks for a 10-9 lead before the controversy in the 20th frame.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
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