By MARK REY MONTEJO
Anthony Raga arrived in Fulda, Germany for the European Open Pool Championships as nobody.
Well, not anymore.
The Cebuano continued to make a noise in the prestigious tournament by coming through with back-to-back wins, including an impressive 10-7 win over former 10-ball world champion Wojciech Szewczyk of Poland to advance to the semis at the Hotel Esperanto on Saturday, Aug. 12.
Raga hopes to engrave his name in the elite club of champions when he battles world No. 1 Joshua Filler of Germany in the Final Four of the event that is also staking a slot in Team Europe which will face Team USA in the Mosconi Cup in London, England.
Before bringing his Polish rival down to his knees, Raga of Talisay, Cebu put on a virtual clinic in dispatching Canadian John Morra, 10-4, in the round of 32, a feat that sent shockwaves in the tournament offering $30,000 to the champion.
Filler made it to the semis with a nerve-wracking 10-9 win over Russian Fedorn Gorst. Battling in the other semis pair are American Shane Van Boening and Spaniard David Alcaide.
Raga’s game with Szewczyk was as spectacular as it was dramatic.
Both players produced great shots one after another to the cheers of the gallery.
Raga, one of three Filipino players in the event – World Cup of Pool champions Johann Chua and James Aranas were eliminated earlier in the event – surged a 7-5 lead, but Szewczyk quickly retaliated and knotted the count against at 7-all.
In the 15th rack, Szewczyk had a chance to take the lead as both players were having a hard time to shoot the No. 3 ball.
Raga took the chance and his bravery paid off with one of the day’s biggest shots.
Raga never looked back after that, wowing the crowd with another string of jaw-dropping shots.
The 26-year-old nautical student already impressed the spectators after his sensational 10-0 blanking of Ko Pin Yi – one of Taiwan’s legendary players.
