CANADA'S JASON KLATT broke Filipino hearts at the Block Atrium Mall in Manila as he recorded an excellent 8-3 victory over Francisco Bustamante in their first round match at the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.
A heavy favourite at the start, Bustamante was never at the races as Klatt moved into an early 3-0 lead. The Pinoy legend pulled it back to 5-3 but Klatt put in a solid performance as he outlasted his opponent for the victory.
"The performance was average. I think I ran two or three breaks but we were struggling with the break but overall I took advantage when I needed to," said a delighted Klatt.
"I'll never forget this for sure and it was an experience in itself playing Francisco Bustamante. I played Efren last year in the Predator 10-Ball with the same crowd and it's awesome to play two legends.
"I missed a few balls but I knew the pressure was on him and I just tried to take advantage."
Klatt can look forward to playing Jianbo Fu in the quarter-finals.
This is the 19th running of the Masters and its first outing in the Philippines. The event is televised locally by Solar Sports and syndicated internationally by promoters Matchroom Sport. The event sports a $66,000 prize-fund with $20,000 going to the champion.
In the final match of the first day, it was 'the Slayer', Davao's Lee Van Corteza, who recorded a fantastic hill-hill victory over reigning World 10 Ball Champion, Huidji See of the Netherlands.
Both men played well enough throughout and there were enough unforced errors to aid the ebb and flow of the game.
Leading 7-6, See missed a shocking 1 ball into the centre pocket and the crowd, recovering from Bustamante's shock exit earlier, cheered 'Van Van' home as he squared it up at 7-7.
With the impetus swinging his way, Corteza closed out the final game for a tremendous victory in a highly entertaining match up.
Play continues tomorrow afternoon with the final two first round matches – Ralf Souquet v Mika Immonen and Efren Reyes v Darren Appleton.
