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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Johann Chua topples two-time world champion Fedor Gorst in Dubai tilt

Johann Chua topples two-time world champion Fedor Gorst in Dubai tilt

Published Jul 18, 2025 03:10 pm

At A Glance

  • Johann Chua showed brilliance as he outlasted American Fedor Gorst in the final, 13-6, to reign supreme in the 2025 Knight Shot 9-Ball Open in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates Thursday, July 17.
Johann Chua (Johann Chua's FB post)
Johann Chua (Johann Chua's FB post)
Johann Chua showed brilliance as he outlasted American Fedor Gorst in the final, 13-6, to reign supreme in the 2025 Knight Shot 9-Ball Open in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates Thursday, July 17.
The 33-year-old Chua displayed iron will and took flight from a tight 7-6 lead, securing the next six racks to deny Gorst’s comeback attempt in the finale of the 44-man competition.
“Raising this trophy to the one up there, for my country, my family, friends, sponsors, supporters…” Chua wrote on his social media post. “Buhay na buhay ang bilyar! Nakaka proud at nakakataba ng puso.”
“Pinapangarap ko lang ito dati na marami sanang sumali na pinoy sa mga tournament dahil naniniwala ako sa galing na meron tayo sa bilyar. Ngayon, eto na kaliwa't kanan ang mga panalo at naniniwala ako na marami pang susunod,” he added.
With his title win, Chua bagged $15,000 (around P850,000) while Gorst settled for a $7,000 (P400,000) runner-up purse.
It was a morale-booster for the Bacolod native as he, together with top-notch Filipino cue artists, are set to compete in this year’s World Pool Championship slated July 21 to 28 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, it was a bad sign for Gorst who was the defending champion of the prestigious WNT tournament after beating Albanian Eklent Kaçi in a hill-hill title clash last year.
Besides beating the two-time world champion, Chua also collected the scalps of Jordan’s Ahmad Jallad Salah (10-4), United Kingdom’s Elliott Sanderson (10-8), and Spain’s Jonas Soutto (10-7) in the elimination round.
The 2023 World Cup of Pool champ dispatched compatriot Jeffrey Prieto (11-6) in the quarterfinal and followed it up by securing an 11-7 semifinal win over Spanish David Alcaide.

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Johann Chua WNT AJ Manas
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