Ho Chi Minh City woke up without its two biggest women’s favourites. Overnight at the Poison Saigon Women’s 9-Ball Open, Germany’s Pia Filler dumped defending champion Wei Tzu-Chien 2–1 and Taiwan’s Chieh-Yu Chou ousted women’s world champion Seo Seoa 2–1 — clearing a path to Friday’s semis while the men’s World 10-Ball last 16 thinned the field of its own heavyweights.
Saigon women — Wei and Seo crash out
CueScore’s quarter-final slate at Phú Thọ / Military Zone 7 Stadium flipped the script on Thursday afternoon (local). Filler took sets 4–1, 1–4, 4–2 to end Wei’s title defence; Chou — still unbeaten this week — blanked Seo in the opener and the decider (4–0, 2–4, 4–0) after the world No.1 had clawed a middle set. On the other half, Philippines star Rubilen Amit edged Chezka Centeno 2–0 on hill-hill sets (4–3, 4–3), and China’s Shi Tianqi swept Han Yu 2–0 (4–3, 4–2).
Friday’s semis (scheduled from 07:00 UTC / 14:00 Vietnam): Filler vs Chou and Amit vs Shi. The final is listed for later Friday afternoon (13:00 UTC). Purse: $90,000 total, $25,000 to the champion — no semi or final scores claimed here.
World 10-Ball — Gorst, Woodward and Shaw fall
Single-elim day at the 2026 Iwan Simonis WPA Men’s 10-Ball World Championship delivered the shocks the double-elim week only hinted at. In Thursday’s last 32 (best-of-five sets, race-to-4): Kledio Kaçi knocked out Fedor Gorst 3–2; Sanjin Pehlivanovic blanked USA’s Skyler Woodward 3–0; Jayson Shaw survived Shane Van Boening 3–2 before Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito turned Shaw over 3–1 in overnight last-16 action. Also through to the quarters: Aloysius Yapp (3–0 over Kledio Kaçi), Joshua Filler, Eklent Kaçi, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Mieszko Fortuński and Wojciech Szewczyk. One last-16 tie — Wu Kun Lin vs Pehlivanovic — was still live on CueScore at filing (2–2), so we’re not calling a winner. Quarters are listed Friday from 09:00 UTC; semis Saturday; final Saturday.
Elsewhere on the cue trail
Sofia’s Q Tour Europe Event 2 is in the books after Aaron Busuttil’s historic Maltese title — next Europe stop Oberhausen, 22–25 October. India’s NSCI Open 8-Ball opens tomorrow (26 Sep–5 Oct) at NSCI Club, Delhi (≈₹5 lakh; Kothari, Gulati, Chawla, Pillai, Magimairaj among the named field). Scottish Open Leicester quals are wrapped; Edinburgh main draw 14–20 December.
Where to watch
- Poison Saigon Women’s / World 10-Ball: Pro Billiard TV & Billiard TV (YouTube), Box Billiards Vietnam, CueScore / Pro Billiard Series brackets
- NSCI Open Delhi: DBSA / NSCI local channels as published
- Q Tour Europe / WST calendars: WPBSA, WST.tv
Photo: SMcCandlish / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). File:Nine-ball_rack.jpg — nine-ball rack on a pool table.
