Japan Open
Tokyo’s New Pia Hall closed the 39th Japan Open with an all-Filipino men’s final and a China–Philippines duel for the women’s crown. Anthony Raga beat Antonio Lining 8–3 to take the men’s 10-ball title; Chen Si-Ming edged Denise Santos 7–6 in the women’s 9-ball final. Both finals were race matches on Diamond PRO-AM Black tables after three days of qualifying and knockouts across the capital.
Raga’s win keeps Philippine pool on the Asian podium heading into the business end of the Ho Chi Minh City week. Chen’s one-rack edge over Santos was the tighter of the two finals — a reminder that the women’s field at this long-running JPBA event rarely gifts anyone an easy night.
Scottish Open quals — Leicester afternoon
At the Mattioli Arena, Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee delivered the afternoon’s headline: a 4–0 whitewash of Marco Fu. The former world women’s champion rolls into Round 2 against Xu Si later in the week. Elsewhere on the 13:00 and 16:00 sessions:
- Liu Wenwei 4–3 Andrew Higginson
- Wang Xinbo 4–2 Luo Zetao
- Artemijs Zizins 4–2 Craig Steadman
- David Grace 4–1 Sean O’Sullivan
- Lan Yuhao 4–2 Joshua Thomond (a)
- Connor Benzey 4–3 Anton Kazakov
- Liam Graham 4–3 Bai Yulu
- Oliver Sykes finished 4–3 against Reanne Evans after the morning session had been unfinished
Morning winners T. Tirapongpaiboon, Mateusz Baranowski and Liam Davies already sit in Round 2. The 19:00 session is live as this goes up — Leone Crowley vs Jimmy White, Jamie Clarke vs Fergal Quinn, Zhao Hanyang vs Phil O’Kane, and Ian Burns vs Liu Yang — with no results claimed here until the frames are posted.
Sofia & Ho Chi Minh City
Q Tour Europe Event 2 opened at the Princess Hotel in Sofia with Round 1 already throwing up early winners (Read, Gradinari, Pragnell, Bystrzycki, Czapnik and others through). Robert Milkins is drawn for Tuesday against Maksim Kostov in a field of 109 from 24 nations. In Vietnam, the WPA Men’s 10-Ball World Championship continues its double-elimination phase at Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium — $300,000 on the line, final scheduled for 26 September — alongside the Poison Saigon Women’s Open and mixed doubles card.
Where to watch
- Scottish Open qualifiers — WST Play / HBO Max / regional partners
- Japan Open — JPBA / Billi-Walker coverage
- World 10-Ball (HCMC) — Pro Billiard TV / Billiard TV / Box Billiards Vietnam YouTube
Feature image: Wikimedia Commons File:Corner_pocket_1.jpg (Stanton McCandlish, CC BY 2.5 / CC BY-SA 3.0).
