Reyes Cup — all square after a wild opening night
Team Asia flew out of the blocks at Makati Coliseum, then watched the Rest of the World haul them back. Day 1 of the 2026 Roobet Reyes Cup finished Asia 2–2 Rest of the World — race to 11 still wide open over the remaining three nights (scores per Absolute Pool and the World Nineball Tour; live on WNT TV, One Sports in the Philippines and ESPN+ in the USA).
Asia took the team match 5–3, then Carlo Biado and Robbie Capito tore through Joshua Filler and Aleksa Pečelj 5–1 in the first doubles. Capito had said earlier in the day that Asia were "not the underdogs"; for one session, at least, he looked right.
The reply was brutal. Francisco Sánchez Ruiz, the two-time US Open champion, gave Duong Quoc Hoang very little and won 5–1 in the singles. Then Shane Van Boening and Fedor Gorst overwhelmed last year's MVP AJ Manas and Albert Januarta 5–1 in the nightcap doubles, levelling the series. Per One Sports, Johann Chua was among those watching from the sidelines as the home crowd rode the swing.
- Team: Asia 5–3 Rest of the World
- Doubles: Biado / Capito 5–1 Filler / Pečelj
- Singles: Sánchez Ruiz 5–1 Duong Quoc Hoang
- Doubles: Gorst / Van Boening 5–1 Manas / Januarta
- Session: Asia 2–2 Rest of the World
Friday's second session is another 7pm local start. First to eleven points takes the $150,000 purse — $20,000 a player for the winners.
Belfast whispers grow — and Wu can still go No.1
With the Northern Ireland Open three days away, The Irish News reports mounting speculation that Belfast is being strongly considered to host the 2029 World Snooker Championship while the Crucible is redeveloped. World Snooker had "no comment"; a Waterfront Hall spokesperson said it would be "fantastic to be considered" but that the focus for now is Sunday's NI Open — the tenth staging at the venue.
Separately, TotallySnookered notes that world champion Wu Yize sits less than £27,000 behind world No.1 Zhao Xintong. The Belfast winner's cheque is £100,000, so a title for Wu would put him top. Both are in the bottom half and cannot meet before the semis: Zhao opens against Gao Yang, Wu against Scott Donaldson. Mark Allen remains drawn with Jordan Brown on Tuesday afternoon.
Korea — LPBA draw is out for Goyang
The NH NongHyup Card PBA–LPBA Championship opens at KINTEX in Goyang on Sunday. Per the PBA's draw notice and Korean coverage, the LPBA Q-round starts Sunday morning with 128s from mid-afternoon; Kim Ga-yeong is down for 16:20 local on Table 1, last-stop winner Jung Su-bin at 18:40 on the same table, with Cha Yu-ram later that evening. Lee Mi-rae and Kim Se-yeon open Monday morning. The men's PBA draw is due Friday evening Korean time, with the PBA itself under way from Tuesday 20 October and finals on 25–26 October.
Four different winners across the first four LPBA stops this season (Kim Ga-yeong, Sruong Pheavy, Park Jeong-hyeon, Jung Su-bin) — and the same story on the men's side after Quoc Nguyen's Goyang title last week.
Coming up
- Australian Women's Open — Mounties Club, Sydney, from Saturday 17 October (World Women's Snooker ranking event).
- English Open and World Billiards Championship — Landywood Snooker Club, Great Wyrley, 17–22 October; Women's World Championship on the 21st. David Causier defends both the English Open and the world title (World Billiards).
- Northern Ireland Open — Waterfront Hall, Belfast, 18–25 October, on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
- Predator European Pool Championships Seniors and Ladies — Gandia, Spain, 19–27 October (EPBF; 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball, straight pool and teams).
- WPA Blackball World Championships — Thistle Hotel Heathrow, 20–28 October (British Pool Federation host; scores on CueScore).
- Roobet Philippines Open — Gateway Mall, Quezon City, 20–24 October; David Alcaide defends.
Feature image: “Breaking” by Simon Law, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.
