The Golden Filipino Sun trophy isn't leaving the country. All four Philippines Open quarter-finals at Gateway Mall went to home players. Johann Chua beat the world champion Carlo Biado 10–1, Bernie Regalario did the same to Francisco Sánchez Ruiz, Anton Raga saw off Jayson Shaw, and Baseth Mocaibat, who had already put out world number one Aloysius Yapp, came from 7–1 down to beat Shane Van Boening 10–9. In Belfast, Kyren Wilson is in his first ranking semi-final for more than 18 months, and in Goyang, Kim Bo-mi has finally beaten Kim Ga-young.
Quezon City — an all-Filipino last four
Quarter-final results per the World Nineball Tour, with detail from Spin.ph:
- Johann Chua 10–1 Carlo Biado: the tie everyone wanted was over early. Chua went 5–0 up as Biado struggled, hanging the 7 in rack eight and leaving the 3 in the jaws in rack nine, and it was soon 8–1. Chua had beaten Aleksa Pecelj 10–7 earlier in the day, and this is his first Matchroom Major of the year. "It would be amazing to win another Major title, especially in my country in front of my people," he said.
- Bernie Regalario 10–1 Francisco Sánchez Ruiz: we couldn't confirm this score at midday. It was 10–1, so the US Open champion and Reyes Cup MVP won one rack. Regalario had a fluke on the 2, a 2–9 combination to get on the hill and a jump on the 7 to finish. WNT says the 19-year-old has won 50 racks and lost 14 all week. "I've never played in front of a crowd like this," he said.
- Anton Raga 10–4 Jayson Shaw: Raga was 7–1 up. Shaw won three racks in a row, and Raga won the last three. "My break has been so good, and I made a lot of run-outs today," he said.
- Baseth Mocaibat 10–9 Shane Van Boening: the comeback of the week. Mocaibat was 7–1 down and got back to 8–7. Then he overcut the 4, and Van Boening got to the hill first. Van Boening got out of position on the 5 and missed a bank on the 8, and Mocaibat ran out the last two racks from the break. "It's truly special to make my first Major semi-final, but it's even more special to share it with three other Filipino players," he said.
Saturday's semi-finals: Regalario v Chua, then Mocaibat v Raga, with the final later the same day, Manila time.
What it means for Orlando
None of the semi-finalists is in the Mosconi Cup race, so the lists are effectively set. On the figures we used at midday, Fedor Gorst's last-16 defeat leaves him just short of Tyler Styer. That would make Van Boening, Thorsten Hohmann and Styer the automatic Team USA players, and Gorst would need a wildcard from Johan Ruijsink. Shaw wants a European captain's pick and has a quarter-final to show for it. These are our own numbers until the World Nineball Tour confirms the standings after the final.
Belfast — Wilson and Craigie into the semi-finals
Afternoon quarter-finals (results per BBC Sport, detail per Totally Snookered and WST):
- Kyren Wilson 6–1 Anthony McGill: a repeat of their 2020 Crucible semi-final, and nothing like as close. Wilson won the opener on the colours and then made breaks of 77, 75 and 122 to lead 4–0. McGill's 66 got him on the board, and Wilson won the next two frames. That's seven wins in a row over McGill. Wilson, who won this title in 2024, hadn't been in a ranking semi-final since March 2025, and he needed this run to help protect his top-16 place.
- Sam Craigie 6–2 Elliot Slessor: Slessor won the first frame with an 80. Craigie, who came through qualifying, then won six of the next seven with breaks of 50 and 66. It's the second ranking semi-final of his career, and his best run since he came back from upper-spine surgery that kept him out of the whole 2024/25 season.
Wilson plays Craigie on Saturday afternoon. The evening quarter-finals, David Gilbert v Mark Williams and Jak Jones v Scott Donaldson, started at 7pm and are still going as we publish.
Goyang — Kim Bo-mi ends the hoodoo
Kim Bo-mi had lost her last three matches against Kim Ga-young, two of them in LPBA finals. In Friday's NH Nonghyup Card LPBA Championship quarter-final she won 3–1 (11–8, 11–9, 2–11, 11–4), per Billiards & Sports. She was 2–7 down in the first set and 2–8 down in the second, and won both. Kim Ga-young is still waiting for her 20th title. Kim Bo-mi has played the LPBA since its first season and is still looking for her first.
- Lee Seon-young 3–2 Lee Ma-ri: the world number 69 had never been past the last 16 before this week.
- Lee Mi-rae 3–2 Park Jung-hyun: her second semi-final in a row.
- Im Jung-sook 3–0 Kang Yu-jin: her first semi-final for about a year.
The semi-finals are Kim Bo-mi v Lee Seon-young and Lee Mi-rae v Im Jung-sook.
Elsewhere
- Q Tour Europe, Oberhausen: Robert Milkins and Peter Lines both won in round two and play each other on Saturday morning. Mark Davis v Ryan Davies is on tonight (per snooker.org).
Where to watch / coming up (BST)
- Philippines Open, Saturday: Regalario v Chua from about 5am and Mocaibat v Raga from about 7am (per Rack 9), with the final after that. On WNT TV, with one table free on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel, and on One Sports in the Philippines.
- Northern Ireland Open: the semi-finals are on Saturday afternoon and evening, and the final is on Sunday. On TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO Max and WST Play.
- LPBA semi-finals, Saturday: Kim Bo-mi v Lee Seon-young at 6.30am, with Lee Mi-rae v Im Jung-sook later. On PBA TV and Billiards TV on YouTube.
- Niche Cues Women's Open, Kuala Lumpur (24–27 October): 50 players, including eight of the world's top 10. Ng On Yee lost last year's final 5–1 to Bai Yulu, and her group starts around 11pm tonight UK time. Streaming is planned on the WPBSA YouTube channel.
- Ultimate Pool Masters, Telford: runs until Sunday, and the men's winner gets £8,000.
- European Seniors, Gandia: the 10-ball medals are decided tonight, on the Pro Billiard TV YouTube channel. The 9-ball and team finals are on Tuesday, and the Euro Tour's Spanish Open starts on Thursday 29 October.
Four Filipinos, one trophy, and a crowd that will be happy whoever wins it. We'll have Belfast's evening results and the Manila semi-finals in the morning.
Sources: World Nineball Tour, Spin.ph and Rack 9 (Manila); BBC Sport, Totally Snookered, WST and snooker.org (Belfast and Oberhausen); Billiards & Sports (Goyang); EPBF (Gandia); World Women's Snooker (Kuala Lumpur); Ultimate Pool Group (Telford).
Feature image: “Maldives Open 2023 Final - Johann Chua” by The President's Office, Maldives, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
