Francisco Bustamante

In 2010, Bustamante again reached the finals of the World Nine-ball Championship. Unlike his first final eight years ago, fate did not deny him. Bustamante won the match and the title against Taiwan's Kuo Po-cheng, a second-placer in the 2005 event.

On July 27, 2010, Francisco Bustamante, along with Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart who are founders of the American Pool Players Association (APA), were elected to the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. In this, Bustamante would become the second player from the Philippines after Efren Reyes to be added. The three were inducted on October 21, 2010.

He competed in the 2008 World Straight Pool Championship as the Philippines' only entry. This was his first-ever participation in straight pool event. In the end, he finished at 2nd place behind Niels Feijen, the tournament winner.

On June 15, 2008, Efren Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, and 2007 Women's Amway World Pool Championships finalist, Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit, will begin photography and had been cast to star with American Jennifer Barretta in an independent film, 9-Ball, at Universal Studios. This movie will be directed and produced by Main Street Production's Anthony Palma, with Ralph Clemente as executive producer.[15]

In 2007, he was undefeated in the United States Pro Tour Championship held at the Normandie Casino in Los Angeles, California.

For 2007, he was ranked #7 in Pool & Billiard Magazine's "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.

The next year, Bustamante won the Motolite 9-ball Tournament, an event held in the Philippines, at the expense of Antonio Lining. The victory earned him $30K, which was the largest first prize offered in a Philippine-held tournament at that time (this was later surpassed when Alcano won $100K in the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, which was held in that country).

Bustamante also won the tournament called the World Pool League in 2004 where he defeated the then world nine-ball champion Alex Pagulayan. He reached the finals of that event in 2001 but was bested by Steve Knight of Great Britain.

The year 2002 was probably the darkest year for Bustamante, especially considering his experience at the World Pool Championships. While the tournament was still going on, Bustamante was most shocked when he received a phone call from his wife informing him that his daughter, who was less than a year old, had died. Devastated by this, Bustamante strongly considered forfeiting his contention at the tournament to return to the Philippines, but some people around convinced him to go on.

Bustamante won the Peninsula Nine-ball Open, Gabriel's Las Vegas International Nine-ball tournament, the IBC Tokyo Nine-ball International, and the All Japan Nine-ball Championship. He even won the Sudden Death Seven-ball tournament and dedicated the victory to his daughter, whom he had tragically lost. With such a string of victories, he became the AZBilliards 2002 Player of the Year.

In 1999, Bustamante finished 3rd place in the WPA World Nine-ball Championship after losing to Efren Reyes, who later won it. Months later, he won the International Challenge of Champions. He won that tournament again three years later.

With his win in Tulsa, Bustamante locked up the 1998 Camel Pro Billiards Series year-long point fund's top spot. He then finished the season in record-breaking style, winning the Columbus 10-Ball Open and becoming the first player to win three Camel titles in one season. His Columbus 10-Ball title also completed the first ever Camel trifecta, with titles in each of the three games contested on the Camel Pro Billiards Series: eight-ball, nine-ball and ten-ball. Known for his style at the table and behind-the-back shots, Bustamante is one of the best Filipino players of the game along with fellow Kapampangan Efren Reyes, Marlon Manalo and Ronato Alcano. He also holds the world record for having the most powerful break shot.

Francisco Bustamante (born December 29, 1963, Philippines) is a Filipino professional pocket billiards (pool) player from Tarlac, Central Luzon and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States.