ANTON Raga fell short in the 2023 European Open Championship, losing to David Alcaide of Spain by the slimmest of margins, 13-12, on Sunday at the Hotel Esperanto in Fulda, Germany.
Raga was four balls away from taking home the title, but the Filipino missed an attempt on the six ball to the side pocket. Alcaide took advantage of Raga’s miscue, easily cleaning up the table to win the $30,000 top prize.
Anton Raga's dream run ends
The unbelievable turn of events ended Raga’s impressive run in the European Open title. He received $15,000 (around P800,000) for the runner-up finish after being ranked 114th in the field of 256 players of the tournament, part of the World Nineball Tour organized by Matchroom Pool.
The Cebuano pool player also had to come back from a 10-8 deficit after Alcaide snatched the 8-7 lead from Raga. The Filipino was also ahead 12-11, when the Spaniard forced hill-hill.
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Raga earned his place in the final by going through the losers’ bracket and clinching a berth in the knockout rounds by beating three players. He beat Mateusz Sniegocki of Poland, 10-8, and Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei, 10-0, in his first two matches in the knockout phase.
The 25-year-old Raga won over John Morra of Canada, 10-4, in the round-of-16, Wojciech Szewczyk of Poland, 10-7, in the quarterfinals, and hometown bet Joshua Filler, 11-9, in the semifinals.
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