The Philippines’ Joven Bustamante saw his unbeaten run end up one win short of a Cinderella finish as he bowed to defending champion Chang Jung-lin, 11-5, in the finals to settle for a runner-up honor in the opening leg of the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour yesterday at the Taipei Gymnasium.

A surprise finalist having made it to the tournament as a wildcard, Bustamante ran into a number of unforced errors and never recovered from it, allowing Chang to snatch the victory and kept the Taiwanese domination of this annual six-city Asian series.

The title-conquest also awarded Chang, who won the three legs last year including the Grand Finals, the top prize of $15,000, while Bustamante took the runner-up purse of $6,000.

“I really wanted to win, but there’s too much pressure and I kind of fell into it,” said the 29-year-old Bustamante a stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano.

“Being a first-timer in this series, I’m very proud of making it to the finals. I’ll just have to go back, practice hard, and if I would get a chance to play again, I’ll do my best, and I think I’ll be better,” he added.

Earlier, Bustamante recovered from a mid-game meltdown to upend reigning junior world champion Ko Pin-yi with a pulsating 9-7 victory to advance into the finals.*

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