--- title: "Manas vs Maciol: Qatar World Cup 10-Ball Semi-Final Preview" url: https://sports23.net/manas-vs-maciol-last-filipino-qatar-10-ball-semi-final published: 2026-10-28T21:11:08Z updated: 2026-11-02T04:07:17Z summary: "AJ Manas, the last Filipino standing, faces 2024 champion Daniel Maciol in the Qatar World Cup 10-Ball semi-final — a race to 11 in Doha." author: "Sports23 Editorial" categories: ["Billiards"] tags: ["AJ Manas", "Daniel Macioł", "Doha", "Philippines", "Qatar World Cup 10-Ball"] lang: en --- # Manas vs Maciol: Qatar World Cup 10-Ball Semi-Final Preview *Albert James Manas faces defending champion Daniel Macioł at noon in Doha on Thursday — the last Filipino standing is one win from a $100,000 final.* Thirteen Filipinos started this tournament. Seven reached the last 16, two reached the quarter-finals — and on Thursday, Albert James Manas is the only one still standing. His reward for getting this far is the hardest assignment left in the draw: 2024 champion Daniel Macioł, the only former winner among the final four. Both semi-finals break off together at noon in Doha (5 p.m. in Manila), races to 11 across two tables at the Ezdan Palace Hotel. A race-to-13 final follows the same evening, worth $100,000 to the champion. ## How Manas got here Manas has been the quiet problem-solver of the bottom half. He came through an all-Filipino last-16 derby against Jundel Mazon 11-5, then did what nobody else in the draw managed — he slowed down Hsieh Chia Chen, beating the Taiwanese giant-killer 11-8 a round after Hsieh had taken out No. 4 seed Fedor Gorst in the week's only hill-hill finish. Two knockout rounds, no hill-hill scares, and wins over two of the form names in the building. With reigning champion Jonas Magpantay already out, Manas is also the last route to keeping this trophy in Filipino hands. ## What stands in his way Macioł has been the most efficient man left. The Pole dropped Duong Quoc Hoang — Southeast Asia's other flagbearer — 11-6 in the last 16, then closed out the all-Polish quarter-final against Konrad Juszczyszyn by the same score. Juszczyszyn arrived having stunned No. 2 seed Carlo Biado; Macioł never let the tie get complicated. That is the shape of the test. Macioł has been here before, won it before, and has not yet needed a single pressure rack this week. He has ended one Southeast Asian run already — Manas's job is to make sure it stops at one. ## The case for the upset On paper this is the bracket's biggest gap: a champion defending his crown against an unseeded player in his first World Cup semi-final. But the short format flattens reputations — race to 11 is long enough for class to tell and short enough for a fast start to matter, and fast starts are exactly how Manas has won. Neither of his knockout matches reached the hill, and he just beat the one opponent nobody else solved. If Manas keeps the first four racks close, the evening gets very interesting. If Macioł builds early, experience says he does not give it back. ## The other table World No. 1 Wojciech Szewczyk meets No. 5 seed Joshua Filler — the only seeded player still alive. Szewczyk has won 21 of his last 27 racks and took out reigning champion Magpantay; Filler ended Miguel Salvilla's breakout week 11-7 and has not trailed in a knockout match yet. If both Poles win, Sunday's storyline writes itself — an all-Polish final. Manas is the one man who can stop that. ## How to watch Semi-finals begin at 12:00 Doha time on Thursday (09:00 UTC, 17:00 Manila): Macioł–Manas on Table 16, Szewczyk–Filler on Table 17. The final follows Thursday evening in Doha, race to 13. Live scoring and the full bracket sit at the [Qatar World Cup 10-Ball hub](https://ncuemedia.com/qatar-world-cup-10-ball). Cover image: Lee Vann Corteza at the 2013 US Open 10-Ball Championship (file photo), Christopher Reyes via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.