ARMED with a stellar record in overseas play, Johann Chua’s bid for a major stand-alone international 9-ball billiards title remained elusive, although he came close to achieving that as a losing finalist to Dane Mickey Krause in the European Open in Fulda, Germany last August.
Chua’s quest for individual glory in the event favored by Filipinos finally ended late Sunday night when he held off fancied Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi and scored an empathic 12-7 win in the finals to bag the Mansion Sports Hanoi Open plum in the Vietnamese capital.
A former world 9 and 10-ball and Asian 9-ball champ, Ko rallied from 2-7 down and threatened at 7-8, seemingly having gained the momentum in the 17th rack when Chua failed to pocket the 6-ball on the left side pocket.
But the usually cool and calculating Taiwanese blundered as well, the 6-ball caroming out of the right corner pocket — much to the relief of Chua, who cleaned up the rack and never looked back.
“Atin na to!” yelled the usually reserved Filipino player nearing the end of the 19th and final frame with the match in hand before jumping on the pool table, pumping his fists in triumph with tears running down his cheeks.
Sitting in his corner, Ko could only smile and look in admiration at his Team Asia teammate in the Efren Reyes Cup starting tomorrow at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“I knew how good Ko is and was never sure of victory until I had pocketed the last ball,” said the 32-year-old Bacolod pride, who handily beat compatriot Carlo Biado 11-5 earlier in the semifinals, and took home the top prize of $30,000 (around P1.720 million) while showing respect to his defeated foe.
“Winning this title in Hanoi means very much to me since this was where I won my singles 9-ball gold in the SEA Games in 2022,” recalled Chua of his victorious experience at the same Hanoi Indoor Games gym two years ago.
“Johann really played well tonight, and this is for Team Asia,” said Ko, who settled for the runner-up purse of $15,000 (P859,935), as he looked forward to his partnership with Chua in the Asia vs. Europe competition named after pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes.
In the semis, the Taiwanese whipped Filipino Jeffrey Roda, who, together with Biado, took home $9,500 (P544,000) apiece.
