Unable to win in all four pre-tournament qualifiers, Filipino cue artist Jonas Magpantay wasn’t supposed to play in the main draw of the Qatar 10-Ball World Cup in Doha slated from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2.
Thanks to the points system that granted him a spot for being one of the leaders in the qualifying race, Magpantay received a golden opportunity to compete and made the most out of it.
Magpantay captured the 10-Ball World Cup crown after topping Polish Szymon Kural, 13-9, in the final at the Ezdan Palace on Sunday.
Flaunting a strong form, Magpantay zoomed to a 6-2 start and kept Kural at bay for the rest of the way to win the biggest title of his career yet.
Chalking up six straight wins in the knockout phase, the 31-year-old Magpantay pocketed a prize of $100,000 or P5.8 million.
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“I feel great, I can breathe now. I mean even myself couldn’t believe that I could beat him (Kural) but I did,” said Magpantay.
“It means a lot to me because this is the first time I joined here in Qatar, nobody knows me so I feel great, I just want to play my game. To all my family and supporters, thank you so much. It’s a big thing for me that you guys were still there (supporting me).”
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Magpantay began his title quest with an 11-7 win over Hungarian Oliver Szolnoki in the last 64 and an upset victory over compatriot Carlo Biado, 11-8.
The Quezon City resident continued his dream run with an 11-5 triumph over Polish Wojciech Szewczyk in the last 16, and Dutch Niels Feijen in the quarterfinals, 11-7.
In the final day of the tournament on Sunday, Magpantay bested German Moritz Neuhausen to set up a final match against Kural.
The 21-year-old Kural pocketed $40,000 or P2.3 million for his runner-up finish.
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Kural, on the other hand, defeated Eritrean Hamza Alsaed, 11-7; Syrian Mohamed Azziza, 11-9; Hong Kong’s Fu Huan, 11-3; Filipino Jerico Bonus, 11-5; and Japanese Naoyuki Oi, 11-9, to reach the final.
