FILIPINO cue ace Johann Chua came through with three impressive wins yesterday (Sunday night in Europe) to wrest the top spot in the 2025 IFX Premier League Pool tournament at the Hills Hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The winner of last year’s Hanoi 9-ball Open, Chua toppled erstwhile frontrunner and UK Open champ Robbie Capito, a fellow Filipino born in Hong Kong and carries the colors of the former British crown colony, 5-3.
He then beat Indonesia’s Edward Koyongian 5-3 before capping the day with a 5-2 victory over two-time world 10-ball champion Eklent Kaci to surge to the top of the 9-ball tournament organized by British promoter Matchroom with 10 wins and two losses.
Capito slipped to second in a tie with Englishman Jayson Shaw, both with 9-3 win-loss records. German Moritz Neuhausen was running fourth (8-4) and former 8-ball and 9-ball king Francesco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain was in fifth place (7-5).
The other Filipino in the round-robin series featuring 16 of the best players in the world with a top prize of $20,000 (around P1.146 million) is Albert Manas, who was in 15th place (3-8).
The tournament will run until Thursday.
