Johann Chua came up two wins short of hoisting the 2024 World Pool Championship trophy after losing to Turkey’s Eklent Kaci in the semifinals, 11-6, on Saturday, June 8 (early Sunday in Manila) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The reigning World Cup of Pool champion saw his comfortable 6-3 lead slip from his hands as Kaci took charge in the remaining eight racks and booked a finals berth in this $1 million tournament.

The Turkish cue artist, however, bowed to eventual champion Fedor Gorst of the United States in a pulsating 15-14 decision to settle for the runner-up honors.

Despite the semifinal defeat, Chua said he was proud of what he had accomplished.

“Time will pass. No one will remember who came in third place, but I will,” Chua wrote in a lengthy post on social media.

“I’ll always remember this experience, the arena, the games I played in this tournament and those people who supported me during this process. I’m more than grateful. I was able to place deep and push myself further than what I expected,” he added.

The multiple Southeast Asian Games medalist said he will keep on pushing until he achieves his ultimate dream of winning the title.

“It’s still surreal. From a nine-year-old watching this tournament on TV to the one being watched by many. Yes, it’s not yet time, but this proves that I’m getting closer,” Chua said.

Prior to the defeat, Chua toppled Chinese Taipei’s Ko Ping Han, 11-5; Austria’s Max Lechner, 11-10; last year’s runner-up Mohammad Soufi, 11-8; and Spanish Open champion Dang Jin Hu of China, 11-3, in the 64-player knockout stage. He was undefeated in the double elimination stage.

His semifinal finish also earned him $50,000 (around P2.9 million).

Two other Filipinos made it to the knockout stage with Jeffrey Ignacio and Anton Raga losing in the quarterfinals. They went home with $27,000 (around P1.5 million).

The last time a Filipino won this nine-ball tournament was in 2017 courtesy of Carlo Biado, who bested Roland Garcia in the all-Filipino final. Biado came close to retaining the crown in 2018, but lost to Germany’s Joshua Filler in the finals.