The legend of Francisco “Django” Bustamante continues to grow as he won the 2026 Buffalo’s Pro Classic 1 Ball One Pocket Division in Jefferson, Louisiana last Wednesday.

Bustamante, 62, showed his class and experience as he prevailed over hometown bet Evan Lunda in the final, 4-0, to emerge victorious with a total pot money of $3,700 — or roughly P228,025.

But Bustamante’s path to the title was filled with challenges, especially with stars like Fedor Gorst, Sky Woodward, Billy Thorpe and Corey Deuel and fellow Filipinos Roland Garcia and Roberto Gomez in the star-studded field.

After opening with a bye, the former Asian Games gold medalist and world champion survived back-to-back hill-hill battles against Americans Mike Delawder, 4-3, and Bobby Emmons, 4-3, before taking down Josh Roberts, 4-2, in the quarterfinals.

Bustamante prevailed over Alex Lely of the Netherlands, 4-3, in the semifinals to arrange a title match with Lunda.

While Gorst wasn’t able to win it all, he is still the world’s No. 1 pool player according to the latest World Nine-ball Tour (WNT) rankings.

Filipino cue artist Carlo Biado sits at No. 2with Aloysius Yapp of Singapore at No. 3 in the standings.

Johann Chua, meanwhile, was the only other Filipino in the top 10 at No. 4.