Billiards Sports23 Editorial 2 min read
Magpantay Out, Biado Stunned: Two Filipinos Reach Qatar Last 8
Two derby winners carry the flag into tonight's quarter-finals after a brutal session for Southeast Asia in Doha.
Southeast Asia's dream scenario lasted exactly one session. Seven Filipinos and Vietnam's Duong Quoc Hoang went into Wednesday's last 16 at the Qatar World Cup 10-Ball — and only the two men who faced compatriots came out alive.
Miguel Salvilla and AJ Manas won the all-Filipino derbies that were already guaranteed to produce two Pinoy quarter-finalists, but the region lost everything else: defending champion Jonas Magpantay, No. 2 seed Carlo Biado, Rocky Tullao and Duong Quoc Hoang all went home in a brutal morning at the Ezdan Palace Hotel.
The champion falls to a familiar foe
Magpantay's title defence ended against the same man he beat at this exact stage a year ago — and by the same scoreline reversed. Twelve months after the "Silent Killer" dismissed Wojciech Szewczyk 11-5 on his shock run from qualifier to champion, the Pole returned it 11-5 on Table 17.
Szewczyk is no ordinary hurdle. He won his second World 10-Ball title in Ho Chi Minh City in September and arrived in Doha in form, needing just 15 racks to beat Szymon Kural — the very opponent Magpantay topped in last November's final.
Seeds tumble everywhere
Biado's exit was the bracket's biggest. The No. 2 seed and reigning WPA world champion — the highest seed left after Francisco Sanchez Ruiz fell on Tuesday — was beaten 11-7 by Konrad Juszczyszyn, the Pole who had already survived a hill-hill epic against Dominik Jastrzab a round earlier.
Fedor Gorst, the No. 4 seed and newly installed No. 1 on the Rack 9 Power Rankings, lost the tightest match of the round, edged 11-10 on the hill by Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Chia Chen after leading 6-3.
Rocky Tullao stayed with Canada's John Morra deep into the match before falling 11-9, and Duong Quoc Hoang's breakthrough week ended 11-6 against 2024 champion Daniel Macioł. Joshua Filler, the No. 5 seed, beat Tobias Bongers 11-8 and is now the highest-ranked player left in the tournament.
The derbies deliver — at a price
The bracket had promised the Philippines two quarter-finalists, and it delivered exactly two. Salvilla ground out an 11-9 win over Jerico Bonus — the man who removed No. 15 seed Wiktor Zielinski on Tuesday — while Manas was more emphatic, beating Jundel Mazon 11-5.
That means five Filipinos lost in a single session, the country's heaviest one-round toll of the week.
Quarter-finals — 8 p.m. tonight, Manila time
| Tie | Note |
|---|---|
| Miguel Salvilla vs Joshua Filler | derby winner vs the highest seed left |
| AJ Manas vs Hsieh Chia Chen | Pinoy vs the man who just beat Gorst |
| Wojciech Szewczyk vs John Morra | champion-slayer vs Tullao's conqueror |
| Konrad Juszczyszyn vs Daniel Macioł | all-Polish quarter-final |
The semi-finals follow at midnight Manila tonight, and a new champion — Magpantay's reign is over — will be crowned on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Manila time in a race to 13.
Southeast Asia went from eight players and five live hopes in the morning to two men carrying the flag by lunch. Salvilla and Manas now play for a place in the last four — and for the region's claim to a second straight Doha title.
Live scoring runs on rack9pool.com; the event streams on the Qatar Billiard Sports Federation's YouTube channel.
