RISING Filipino billiards star Johann Chua stormed back to contention in the IFX Premier League Pool early yesterday morning (Tuesday night in Europe), winning four of his five matches to rise to second at the Hills Hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Chua beat Albanian Klaudio Kaci 5-1; German Moritz Neuhausen 5-1; Englishman Jayson Shaw 5-3; and Indon Edward Koyongian 5-2, but lost to former world 9 and 8-ball champion Francesco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain 2-5.
He wheeled back into second place with 14 wins and five losses in the overall standings, closely hounding pacesetting Hong Kong-born Filipino compatriot Robbie Capito.
Capito, who now represents the former British crown colony that is now a Special Administrative Region of China, also had the same win-loss record as Chua but was slightly ahead with racks won and racks lost – 83-57 to the latter’s 82-59.
Ruiz clung to third place with a 13-7 slate (82-71), ahead of fourth running Aloysius Yapp of Singapore (13-7, 78-71), while Shaw was in fifth place (12-) in the weeklong competition organized by English promoter Matchroom offering a top prize of $20,000 (around P1.155 million).
The field will be reduced to six players after the sixth stage, which was to be played last night (early Thursday morning today in Manila).
