Philippines' number one player defeats 'Prince of Pool' to win Hanoi Open title

Johann Chua celebrates the Hanoi Open title on Oct. 13, 2024. Photo by Matchroom

Ko won the first set, but made a mistake with the 6 ball in the next one, allowing Chua to tie the score at 1-1. Since then, the Philippine player scored three more points in a row and maintained the lead. At one point, Ko reduced the score to 7-8, but that was also when he made a serious mistake, hitting the 2 ball off the rail.

Chua took advantage of the ball placement and scored four more points to win 13-7.

This is the first time Chua won a major individual 9-ball pool tournament of the World Nineball Tour (WNT). After winning the title, the 32-year-old player jumped on the table to celebrate.

As the champion, Chua received US$30,000, while Ko got $15,000. The two third-placed players, both from the Philippines, Carlo Biado and Jefrey Roda, received $9,500 each. The host's best performer was Nguyen Van Huynh, who received a $2,000 prize for reaching the round of 16.

Chua was not the strongest contender when he entered the tournament. However, his victory was not a big surprise, as he is currently the number one pool player in the Philippines and ranked 10th in the world. He also won the 2023 World Cup of Pool doubles with James Aranas.

He went to the airport right after receiving the prize on Sunday night, rushing back home to compete in the first edition of Reyes Cup, a competition between Asia and Europe, in Manila. He was on Team Asia with Biado, Ko, Aloysius Yapp (Singapore) and Duong Quoc Hoang (Vietnam). Team Europe has Eklent Kaci (Albania), Mickey Krause (Denmark), Jayson Shaw (England), Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide (Spain).

Ko got more love from the Hanoi audience, with the nickname "Prince of Pool", after he won a hat-trick of world championships 9-ball, 10-ball and World Cup of Pool in 2015, at the age of 26. The 35-year-old is currently 13th in the world. He is the eldest of three billiards brothers, alongside Ko Ping-chung and Ko Ping-han.

The next tournament, the 2024 Reyes Cup, will take place from Oct. 15 to 18.