Chua and Aranas make history as they win World Cup of Pool title

Sanchez and David Alcaide right in the first round.

They then ousted the other Spanish contingent of Jonas Souto and Jose Alberto Delgado before escaping Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin-Yi and Ko Ping-Chung and Austria’s Albin Ouschan and Mario He right at the final rack.

In the semifinal showdown against the Philippines, Austria failed to complete a comeback from 4-8 down as He scratched right at the break of the final rack, paving the way for Chua and Aranas to steal the rack and the win.

“I feel great. It feels amazing to win a world title. It’s such an honour to win with James. We’ve known each other since we were 13 years old. We went to school together. To win with him is amazing. This has always been our dream. It’s a special achievement to win the World Cup of Pool,” said the 31-year-old Chua.

though the Germans gave the Filipinos some scare near the end.

Chua and Aranas quickly drew near to the cusp of winning it all after going up, 9-2, even as Filler and Neuhausen were relegated to spectators for most of the early goings.

However, Team Germany came alive after winning the next five racks to cut the lead down to two, 9-7, with the crowd beginning to sense a huge comeback.

But on Rack 17, Chua converted on a 2-8 combination which eventually swung the momentum back to them as the Philippine duo finally moved to within match point.

MANILA – The Philippines has won an unprecedented fourth World Cup of Pool title after the tandem of veteran cue masters Johann Chua and James Aranas beat the German pair of Joshua Filler and Moritz Neuhausen, 11-7, in the final Sunday at the Pazo de Feiras e Congresos de Lugo in Spain.

Chua and Aranas will bring home US$60,000 (around P3.3 million) for ruling the event, while Filler and Neuhausen settled for the US$30,000 (around P1.65 million) runner-up prize.

The title was last won in 2013 by Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza. Years before them, Efren Bata Reyes and Francisco Djangco Bustamante ruled the event twice in 2006 and 2009.

Chua and Aranas entered the world tournament unseeded.

They shocked the world when they eliminated erstwhile champs Francisco

SEAG champion Ubas eyes gold medal at Asian Championships

MANILA – Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) long jump champion Janry Ubas is setting his sights on the gold medal when he debuts at the Asian Championships scheduled to be held in Pattaya, Thailand on July 12-16.

“I’m excited because it’s my first time to compete in the Asian Championships. My goal is to win the gold medal and I will do my very best to achieve that,” Ubas said.

His brilliant performance at the Cambodia SEAG where he won the gold medal in the long jump (7.85m) and the silver medal in the decathlon (with a new Games record of 8.08m in the long jump) has boosted the confidence of the 29-year-old native of Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental.

“For me, I have so many memories, it’s so exciting. This week is unforgettable, spending this moment with Johann too. My cues arrived right on time because they didn’t arrive for the Spanish Open. I want to thank my friends and family and all the Filipinos back home. Without my family, I would not be here,” said Aranas.

Chua and Aranas blistering start set the tone for the Chua-Aranas duo’s masterclass against the Filler-Neuhausen tag team, al-

In Rack 18, the German pair tried something tricky when they, with only a little chance at hitting the 2-ball after Chua’s safety shot and some time pressure, opted to go for an intentional foul by hitting the 7-ball directly to place it beside the 3-ball in hopes of a botch from him after Aranas’ shot at the 2.

However, Chua rattled the 3-ball in and put the 7-ball in a better spot to eventually clean up the rack and lift the championship trophy.

With Chua and Aranas’ win, the Philippines broke a tie with China for the winningest country in the WCOP with its first title since Dennis Orcullo and Lee Van Corteza connived for the 2013 championship.