By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Johann Chua suffered another heartbreaking defeat after yielding in the semifinals of the 2024 Knight Shot 9-Ball Open at the Jayson Shaw’s Billiards Lounge in Dubai, United Arab Emirates over the weekend.
The reigning World Cup of Pool champion couldn’t muster enough power and succumbed to Germany’s Joshua Filler, 11-3, in the $25,000 tournament that also offers World Nine-ball Tour ranking points.
Filler eventually captured the title and the $15,000 champion’s purse with a 13-11 victory over Turkey’s Eklent Kaci.
Chua, for his part, settled for the $5,000 consolation prize.
This marked the second straight time that Chua came close to the title after also finishing in the semis of the prestigious World Pool Championship in Saudi Arabia early this month.
Prior to his semis defeat in the Dubai meet, Chua edged Bangladesh’s Nizam Uddin Ahmed, 9-6, in the opening round, then Canada’s John Morra, 9-7; Austria’s Mario He, 9-7; Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski, 10-5; and Spain’s Jonas Souto, 10-7.
He was the only Filipino to make it to the 16-player knockout stage.
Other Filipinos who competed were Carlo Biado, Jayson Nuguid, Abdulrauf Domrang, Elijah Noli Alvarez and Oliver Garcia.
