WC2002 - Quarter Finals Update

Unfortunately, one of the Filipino heavyweights had to go out of the tournament this afternoon, as Fracisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes squared up on table 1, the main TV table. They treated us to some world-class pool in front of a packed auditorium. You couldn't separate the form of the two players, and after 16 frames the score stood at 8 apiece.

But when Reyes scratched on the break in the 17th frame he didn't get another shot. Bustamante goes through to the semi-final (playing tonight) with an 11-8 win. He will play Ching-Shun Yang, who demolished Johnny Archer this afternoon 11-2.

Earl Strickland is through after giving former world champion Kunihiko Takahashi an 8-3 pounding. He re-found the form he appeared to have lost yesterday, but it was Takahashi who, despite making more mistakes than Earl, rode his luck to take an early lead to go 3-1 in front. Strickland wasn't happy by that point, and had long been talking to the crowd and muttering away to himself.

Maybe the hustler in Earl came out to play a little too - he got Takahashi visibly narked with some comments about using a jump cue (Earl believes they shouldn't be allowed in competition). The former champion then put his jump cue away, opting to play without it. If he'd made the shot, with the game then at 3-3, it would have been the perfect answer to Strickland's gamesmanship. But unfortunately, his composure had deserted him - he missed the shot badly and left Strickland a 1-9 combo.

Takahashi never won another frame - Strickland, who appeared more relaxed and was notably quieter after that, goes through to the semis. He will meet Takeshi Okumura, who this afternoon beat the only European left in, Swede Marcus Chamat.

You can find the last 16 knockout table here.