Johann Chua seeks to write a different narrative this time when he and fellow veteran Carlo Biado compete in the 2025 European Open Pool Championships starting on Tuesday, March 11, at the Hills Hotel Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The 32-year-old Chua, who left the country on Sunday, March 9, for a 27-hour trip to the venue, will be coming into this $200,000 tournament with a goal of eclipsing his runner-up finish to Mickey Krause of Denmark last year held in Fulda, Germany.

That would be easier said than done as a total of 256 players across the globe, including the top 128 professionals from the world Nineball Tour, are battling for the $40,000 champion’s purse.

The draw for the preliminary stage was already released, though, with a still unspecified schedule, with Chua facing local bet Mustafa Hadzibajric.

Biado, the reigning world 10-ball champion, meanwhile, collides with Saudi Arabia’s Alwaleed Khaled Almudhayan.

The players compete in double elimination preliminaries for a spot in the 64-player knockout stage.

Apart from Krause, who is defending his title, notable players competing are Spaniard Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, American Shane Van Boening, Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw, Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, and Albania’s Eklent Kaci, top name a few.