The Philippines’ Johann Chua in the US Open Pool Championship at Harrah’s Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ.–Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Pool
MANILA, Philippines–Johann Chua became the last Filipino standing in the US Open Pool Championship after claiming two victories to reach the semifinals on Friday (Saturday Philippine time) in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Chua defeated Serbia’s Aleksa Pecelj, 10-7, in the round-of-16 before taking down Dutch veteran Niels Feijen, 10-2, to close in on winning a major individual title on the professional circuit for the first time.
The 2021 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and 2023 World Cup of Pool winner with James Aranas, however, faces an acid test as he takes on last year’s champion Fedor Gorst in the race-to-11 Final Four.
Gorst prevented an all-Filipino showdown, squeaking past Michael Baoanan, 10-9, in the quarterfinals despite trailing 6-2 and 9-8.
Baoanan was coming off a 10-9 victory over Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang, but his chances of advancing further ended at the hands of Gorst, currently ranked No. 1 in the World Nineball Tour rankings.
Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp and Chinese-Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi square in the other semis pairing. The final, to be held shortly after the semis, will be a race-to-13 showdown.
It was Yapp, winner of the recent Florida Open, who ended the campaign of Jefrey Roda after prevailing 10-2 in the last 16.
In reaching the semis, Chua is assured of taking home at least $25,000 (P1.41 million), but will be eyeing a bigger purse if he gets past Gorst.
The champion receives $100,000 (P5.65 million) while the runner-up gets $50,000 (P2.82 million).
Chua will also aim to become the third Filipino to claim the US Open, one of the biggest tournaments in 9-ball, after Efren “Bata” Reyes in 1994 and Carlo Biado in 2021.
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