Johann “Bad Koi” Chua of the Philippines captures the 2024 Mansion Sports Hanoi Open pool title after beating Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi with a score of 13-7 in the finals on Sunday, Oct 13 at Hanoi Indoor Games Gymnasium in Vietnam.
Both Chua and Ko struggled to find their rhythm early on as Ko secured the first rack despite missing the 3 and 7 ball. Chua found his form in the second rack seizing control after Ko left the 6-ball hanging for an easy sweep that sparked his momentum as he went on to secure four consecutive racks.
Chua’s dry break in the sixth rack allowed Ko to get back to the table, where he shot a 1-9 combo to cut Chua’s lead. Ko tried to keep the pressure on by hooking Chua on the 5-ball, but Chua responded with a fierce jump shot, regaining control and extending his lead to 7-2.
With the close call at 8-7, Ko tried to level the match but got fouled on the 2-ball allowing Chua to extend the lead to 9-7. A miss by Chua on the 6-ball in the next rack opened the opportunity for Ko to close the gap but he missed a 9-ball which was capitalized by Chua to hike the lead to 10-7 and never looked back to capture his first major Matchroom title.
Next stop for Johann is the inaugural Reyes Cup slated on October 15-18 in Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila which will feature Team Asia and Team Europe. Team Asia is composed of Chua, Ko, Carlo Biado, Aloysius Yapp and Duong Quoc Hoang who will battle Team Europe of Jayson Shaw, Eklent Kaci, Mickey Krause, Francis Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide.
