Philippines Open pool: Chua crushes Biado 10-1 as home players fill all four semi-final places

The Golden Filipino Sun trophy will stay in the Philippines. Johann Chua, Anton Raga, Bernie Regalario and Baseth Mocaibat won their quarter-finals at Gateway Mall in Quezon City on Friday, so all four semi-finalists at the 2026 Philippines Open are home players. Along the way, the home crowd saw the world champion, the world No. 1, the defending champion and the reigning US Open champion all knocked out. The semi-finals and the final are on Saturday 24 October. Manila is on the same time as Malaysia, so the times are the same for fans here.

Chua beats Biado in a one-sided quarter-final

The biggest surprise of the quarter-finals was the score in the all-Filipino tie between Chua and Carlo Biado, the reigning world champion. Chua won it 10-1. He had beaten Serbia's Aleksa Pecelj 10-7 in the last 16. Pecelj has already secured his first Mosconi Cup place. Chua is a two-time Reyes Cup winner and this is his first Matchroom Major semi-final of the year. He said that winning "in my country in front of my people" would be special.

Regalario, 19, keeps knocking out big names

Bernie Regalario, 19, has had the week of his life. In the last 16 he beat defending champion David Alcaide of Spain 10-2. In the quarter-finals he beat Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, the US Open champion, 10-1. According to the World Nineball Tour, he has lost only 14 racks in his first 50 of the week. This is his second semi-final on the tour.

Mocaibat's comeback against Van Boening

Mocaibat produced the comeback of the day. He was 7-1 down to the American star Shane Van Boening, but came back to win 10-9. This is his first Major semi-final. In the last 16 he had beaten Singapore's Aloysius Yapp, the world No. 1, 10-3. That ended the run of the highest-ranked Southeast Asian player from outside the Philippines.

Anton Raga, runner-up at the 2023 European Open, completed the line-up. He beat Jefrey Roda 10-7 in the last 16 and then beat Scotland's Jayson Shaw 10-4.

Saturday's semi-finals and final

The semi-finals are Mocaibat v Raga and Regalario v Chua. Semi-finals are race-to-11 and the final is race-to-13. Earlier rounds were race-to-10. The event has a single-elimination field of 128 players and a US$100,000 prize fund. The champion receives US$20,000, the runner-up US$10,000 and each losing semi-finalist US$7,000.

The World Nineball Tour streams the event on WNT TV for subscribers, with one table shown free on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel. Exact session start times for Saturday had not been confirmed in the sources we checked.

Key takeaways

• All four Philippines Open semi-finalists are Filipino: Chua, Raga, Regalario and Mocaibat.
• Johann Chua beat world champion Carlo Biado 10-1 in the quarter-finals.
• Bernie Regalario, 19, beat defending champion David Alcaide 10-2 and US Open champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 10-1.
• Baseth Mocaibat beat world No. 1 Aloysius Yapp 10-3, then came from 7-1 down to beat Shane Van Boening 10-9.
• The semi-finals and final are on Saturday 24 October, and the champion receives US$20,000.

FAQ

Who is in the Philippines Open pool semi-finals? Baseth Mocaibat plays Anton Raga, and Bernie Regalario plays Johann Chua. All four are from the Philippines, so the 2026 champion will be Filipino.

When is the Philippines Open final? The semi-finals and the final are both on Saturday 24 October at Gateway Mall in Quezon City. The final is a race to 13 racks. Manila and Malaysia share the same time zone.

Who knocked out Aloysius Yapp at the Philippines Open? Singapore's world No. 1 Aloysius Yapp lost 10-3 to Baseth Mocaibat in the last 16. Mocaibat then came from 7-1 down to beat Shane Van Boening 10-9 in the quarter-finals.

Sources: World Nineball Tour, Absolute Pool, Manila Bulletin, OneSports