Manas Through, Salvilla Out: Last Filipino Into Qatar Semis

Two Filipinos walked into Wednesday's quarter-finals in Doha; only AJ Manas walked on. The morning's derby winner beat Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Chia Chen 11-8 to become Southeast Asia's lone semi-finalist at the Qatar World Cup 10-Ball, while Miguel Salvilla's breakout week ended 11-7 against Joshua Filler at the Ezdan Palace Hotel.

Manas passes the toughest test yet

Hsieh arrived as the bracket's giant-killer after edging No. 4 seed Fedor Gorst 11-10 on the hill in the last 16. Manas never let the upset bug bite twice — he controlled the middle racks and shut the door at 11-8 on Table 17.

The prize is a Thursday date with 2024 champion Daniel Macioł, a very different test for a player who has gone through an all-Filipino tie against Jundel Mazon and now the Gorst-slayer to reach the last four.

Filler ends the Salvilla run

Salvilla stayed with the No. 5 seed deep into the match on Table 9 but Filler — the only seeded player left after a week that removed No. 2 Carlo Biado, No. 4 Gorst and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz — pulled away to close it 11-7.

The German's semi-final opponent is Wojciech Szewczyk, who followed his revenge win over defending champion Jonas Magpantay by beating Canada's John Morra 11-8.

Macioł wins the all-Polish tie

The last quarter-final doubled as a Poland derby, and 2024 champion Macioł pulled away late to beat Konrad Juszczyszyn 11-6 — ending the run of the man who had shocked Biado a round earlier.

Semi-finals — Thursday

Both semi-finals start at noon in Doha on Thursday (5 p.m. Manila), followed by a race-to-13 final at 8:30 p.m. Manila the same night. Macioł is the only former champion among the last four — for Manas, Filler and Szewczyk, this trophy would be a first.

Cover image: Joshua Filler, photo by MisawaSakura via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.