By MARK REY MONTEJO
Johann Chua outclassed Swedish Kevin Zarekani, 10-4, to lead to the march of the Filipinos in the round of 32 of the 2024 Maldives Open 10-Ball Championship in Malé City on Friday, June 28.
Chua displayed his steely nerves to prevail in the opening round of the week-long tournament which has a $130,000 (roughly P7.6 million) prize pool.
But the sad news, he will be up against long-time friend Carlo Biado in the next round.
Other Filipinos in the next round are Bernie Regalario, Jeffrey Ignacio, Jonas Magpantay, Michael Baoanan and Sean Mark Malayan.
The 2023 World Cup of Pool champion flexed his might early as he raced to commanding 4-0 lead, but Zarekani pulled to within 5-3.
That was the closest the Swedish could reach as Chua brought his A-game by taking four straight racks that all but took the fight out of his Swedish rival.
Regalario and Ignacio are also in for big matches as they will go up against
Austria’s Mario He and Taiwanese Ko Ping Chung, respectively.
Unfortunately, James Aranas was booted out early after losing to Hong Kong’s Kin Ling Yip in their hill-hill matchup, 10-9.
Big names are also taking part in the competition, including Taiwan’s Ko Pin-yi, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, Japan’s Naoyuki Oi and USA’s Fedor Gorst, who recently reigned supreme in the World Pool Championship earlier this month.
