Saturday lunchtime, and the Golden Filipino Sun trophy is being fought over by two home players at Gateway Mall in Quezon City as I write. The Philippines Open final between Johann Chua and Anton Raga got under way just after 11am BST, and here is how the last day in Manila took shape.
PHILIPPINES OPEN — THE DRAGON GETS THERE
When we went to press this morning, Baseth Mocaibat led Raga 5–4 in the second semi-final. It did not last. Raga took the match 10–6 (per the WNT live scores), ending a run from Mocaibat that had taken out Mickey Krause, Denis Grabe, world No. 1 Aloysius Yapp and, from 7–1 down, Shane Van Boening. Mocaibat leaves with $7,000 and a lot of new admirers.
For Raga, it is a first WNT Major final since he lost to David Alcaide at the 2023 European Open. His road to this one: Narvaez, Santos, Saguiped, Roda, Shaw and now Mocaibat. "Lose or win, it's a Filipino final," he told WNT before the match. It was a nervy start: Raga scratched on his opening break and then missed a nine, and Chua was quick to punish both.
Final (race to 11, live on WNT TV and One Sports in the Philippines):
- Johann Chua led Anton Raga 6–4 at our last check, shortly after 12:10 BST
- Winner takes $20,000; runner-up $10,000, from a $100,000 prize fund
- Whatever happens, Alcaide's 2025 trophy goes to a Filipino
Chua's week has been remarkable. He dropped only three racks across his quarter-final and semi-final combined, beating world champion Carlo Biado 10–1 and Bernie Regalario 10–2. We'll have the result and the reaction in the evening roundup.
Mosconi Cup watch: Fedor Gorst's last-16 defeat to Jayson Shaw meant no late Manila jump for him. Per Rack 9, Team USA's automatic places sit with Van Boening, Thorsten Hohmann and Tyler Styer, and Johan Ruijsink picks the two wildcards.
NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN — LAST FOUR AT THE WATERFRONT
The one-table set-up in Belfast starts at 1pm BST. Both semi-finals are best of 11:
- 1pm: Kyren Wilson v Sam Craigie. Wilson, the 2024 champion here, is in his first ranking semi since March 2025. Craigie, a 32-year-old who once feared a neck and shoulder injury had ended his career, is in only the second ranking semi of his career. Wilson leads their head-to-head 8–3.
- 7pm: Mark Williams v Jak Jones, all-Welsh. Williams, 51, made 104, 115 and 101 in consecutive frames to beat David Gilbert. Jones already has two ranking titles this season, the Championship League and the British Open. Williams leads 5–2 head-to-head, though they haven't met since 2023.
LPBA — TWELVE YEARS APART, ONE TROPHY
In Goyang, Lim Jeong-sook (40) and Kim Bo-mi (28) will meet in the NH Nonghyup Card LPBA Championship final, per MK Billiards:
- Lim Jeong-sook 3–1 Lee Mi-rae (11–7, 11–9, 10–11, 11–5). The "original queen" is chasing a sixth LPBA title and her first since the 2023/24 season.
- Kim Bo-mi 3–0 Lee Seon-young (11–3, 11–7, 11–10), coming from 8–10 down in the third set. She has lost all three of her previous finals and is still looking for title No. 1.
AROUND THE TABLES
- Gandia: The EPBF seniors and ladies 8-ball events run until Sunday. The 9-ball starts on Sunday and its finals are on Tuesday 27 October. The teams events also finish on the 27th.
- Oberhausen (Q Tour Europe Event 3): Ryan Davies came back from 3–1 down to beat Mark Davis 4–3. Sean McAllister edged Barry Pinches 4–3, Umut Dikme made a 102 in a 4–1 win over Velian Dimitrov, and Luke Pinches got past Joel Connolly Jnr 4–3. Scores on CueTracker. The event ends on Sunday.
- Kuala Lumpur: The Niche Cues Women's Open began today, the WWS Tour's first visit to Malaysia. There are 50 players from nine countries, including eight of the world's top 10 and 14 Malaysians. Groups are best of three. Bai Yulu is the defending champion after beating Ng On Yee 5–1 in Bangkok last year. WPBSA plans to stream it on YouTube.
- USA: Stop 7 of the NWPA Tour is at Ox Billiards in Seattle this weekend (listed on AZBilliards).
STILL TO COME TODAY
- The rest of the Philippines Open final, Chua v Raga (WNT TV)
- Wilson v Craigie at 1pm, then Williams v Jones at 7pm, Belfast
- The LPBA final in Goyang, Lim v Kim Bo-mi
Feature image: “Billiard in Claveria (15628048381)” by Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0.
