Earl Strickland is World Champion for 3rd Time

Earl Strickland has won the WPA World Pool Champion title for an incredible third time by beating Francisco Bustamante 17-15 in a thrilling final match at the Cardiff International Arena. It was Bustamante who led for most of the game, but the controversial Strickland made fewer mistakes and deservedly pulled off the title hat-trick.

Bustamante is the best breaker in the game, and Strickland has visibly improved his break over his last couple of matches. That didn't mean alot tonight, as neither player was allowed to stay in top gear for long due to an unusual number of scratched breaks.

A pattern had been set by the time the two cuemasters had traded equal blows to reach a 3-3 scoreline. Strickland had won the lag and ran out before scratching on the break. Bustamante then ran out and got an unlucky break, from which he pushed to a snooker, knowing Earl would put him back in with a chance to jump and make the pot. That he did, to huge cheers from the audience. Django was looking determined, but Strickland was looking hungry and focused. They battled on and emerged level again at 6 all.

By 10-8, after Bustamante had taken charge, Earl looked defeated. His head was bowed with his hand covering his face, and when Bustamante pushed out, it looked an effort for him to get out of his chair. Strickland had been impeccably behaved from the start. He looked humble when he came out for the introductions, even acknowledging to the microphone he could be "hard to tolerate sometimes". Perhaps he felt lonely out there tonight - the crowd had shown sympathy to Bustamante's mistakes but applauded Earl's from the start.

The Pearl perked up somewhat when let back to the table, and pulled back to 12-11 before sending the cue ball clean off the table with his next break. At 14-12 up, it was Bustamante's turn for a scratched break and Strickland cleared the table. An aggressive shot from Earl was needed after a mediocre break, and he pulled off a great thin cut on the 1 ball to finish on the 2. The effort was wasted as he missed a shocking 6 later in the frame which let Django go two racks clear at 15-13.

But then Bustamante got his second scratched break and Strickland took control and didn't let go. Twenty minutes after looking like a dejected loser, he now looked an in-the-zone winner. Bustamante got one more visit to the table after Strickland lost position and played safe. But a failed jump shot let Earl the Pearl continue dishing his way to a 17-15 conclusion.

Bustamante was first into the press conference room, and his nonchalant attitude toward losing the match put things in perspective. "I was going to dedicate it to my daughter if I won. It doesn't matter that I came second, I dedicate that instead." It wasn't his biggest loss this week after the death of his baby daughter in the Philippines during the tournament.

About the game, Bustamante said "I pushed out to hook him a couple of times knowing he would give the shot back to me. When I scratched for the second time I thought maybe that was my last shot. It is hard to take, being beaten after leading for most of the match, especially with the scores so close. But I am not a bad loser. I go out and play my game, shake hands and that's it".

Bustamante is often referred to as the 'the best player never to have won a world championship'. On this, he was optimistic: "I've only played in 5 or 6 world championships - I hope my time will come, I still have time, I'm still young."

Django was full of respect for his opponent, but made a criticism of Earl that is not new. "Earl Strickland's a good player - the only problem with Earl is he talks too much. But when he talks he plays well, especially when he talks loud. But tonight he was very good (well-behaved) - I've got no problem with Earl."

Strickland was obviously ecstatic when he bounced into the press conference. "This is the greatest world title you can win in billiards today" said the 41 year old legend from North Carolina. "In the past, the world championships I won weren't as prestigious as this one."

"The pressure out there was unbelievable. I played very well to get out of some tough situations, including some quality outs...the 1 ball I played to go 10-8 down was a very scary shot. I think he was playing a shade better than me, but somehow the gods were with me."

He went on to describe what was going through his mind when he had his head bowed and wasn't even watching the game. "I wanted to draw a mistake out of him. I didn't want to watch, I thought maybe I could listen for a mistake! I just wanted to stay composed. Watching the table creates bad karma for me sometimes, 'cause I'm trying to wish the guy to make a mistake and it never happens."

Earl Strickland takes home the first prize of $65,000 dollars, while Francisco Bustamante receives $30,000 as runner-up.