Alcaide bags first-ever PH Open Title

Spanish pool star David Alcaide made history after capturing the inaugural Philippine Open Championship title, outlasting a stacked field of local and international cue artists in the tournament held in Manila, Philippines, from Oct. 21 to 25.

Alcaide, a two-time World Pool Masters champion, displayed consistency and composure throughout the week to clinch the crown in the first-ever staging of the Philippine Open.

Meanwhile, the country’s top bets, including rising prodigy AJ Manas, advanced as far as the quarterfinals before bowing to their foreign opponents.

Manas went out to clinch three consecutive rounds, building a commanding 3-0 cushion over World No. 17 Jayson Shaw, who later shrugged off his early slack to swiftly secure 11 straight rounds to outlast Manas, 11-3, and flick him out of the quarterfinals round.

In a post-game interview with the Scottish cue artist, he recognized Manas’ potential and the X-factor in his win against the prodigy.

“He didn’t do too much wrong, you know. He had some good safeties, he kicked a couple of times, and I felt like my experience there in the middle of the game pushed me out in the right areas,” Shaw said.

“He’s going to be a world champion one day, maybe in the next few years, but he’s got a bright future so I wish him well,” he added.

Additionally, before Manas advanced to the quarterfinal round, he stunned the world champion and fellow Filipino cue artist Carlo Biado, 10-7.

Meanwhile, other Filipino contenders– Jeffrey Ignacio, Bernie Regalario, and Roland Garcia were also eliminated in the quarterfinals by David Alcaide, Robbie Capito, and Arseni Sevastyanov, respectively.

Alcaide’s victory in Manila marks a strong start for the Spanish cue artist as the Philippine Open sets its place among the newest major tournaments in the global billiards circuit.

With reports from ABS-CBN