Unheralded Paulo Gallito ended his head-turning campaign with a 10-3 loss to former world champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Peri 9-Ball Open at the Peri Pool Arena in Da Nang, Vietnam Friday, Oct. 4.

After securing the first two racks, Gallito failed to overcome what Sanchez Ruiz had brought to the table as the latter flashed his veteran poise and dominated the following frames to earn the semifinal ticket of the tournament that has a $110,000 (around P6 million) prize pool.

Before yielding to his Spanish rival, the Filipino cue artist outlasted Turkish Akdag Ramazan (9-5), German Moritz Neuhausen (9-8) and his compatriot James Aranas (9-5) in the Final 64, 32, and 16, respectively.

He also beat Vietnam’s Do Hoang Quan (9-4) and Duong Quoc Hoang (9-1), and Canada’s John Morra (9-4) in the first round.

Gallito will not go home empty-handed as he is set to receive a $3,000 (P168,997) consolation prize after reaching the quarters in the 256-player field.

He immediately turned heads in the race-to-10 showdown with Sanchez Ruiz as he swiftly took the first two games. But the Spaniard stormed back and left Gallito behind with his superb shotmaking skill.

Meanwhile, Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Anton Raga, Baseth Mocaibat, Jefrey Roda, and Raymund Faraon bowed to their respective foes before they could advance to the quarterfinals.