David Alcaide has been crowned the inaugural Philippines Open champion in Quezon City, scuppering Arseni Sevastyanov’s fairytale run to seal his fourth major accolade and the $30,000 champion’s cheque.
Hundreds of Filipino fanatics flocked inside the Gateway Mall to witness Spain’s Alcaide conquer the Philippines Open, the majority of them overlooking from balconies on the first and second floors in a spectacular sight.
Alcaide landed his first title on the World Nineball Tour since winning the European Open more than two years ago, dedicating his success to his late mother and reaffirming himself as one of the sport’s greatest players.
Both Alcaide and Sevastyanov settled quickly into the final, sharing the opening two racks of the contest, although a couple of failed safety attempts in subsequent racks from the young Finn allowed the experienced Alcaide to mount a 5-1 advantage.
Despite Sevastyanov stepping in and capitalising on a foul and a scratch to reduce the deficit, that merely delayed the inevitable. Too many errors proved costly for Finland’s newest star, and Alcaide’s vast experience proved to be the most telling factor as he emerged a 13-3 winner.
After Alcaide leaped onto the table and received a raucous reception from all three floors of the Gateway Mall, European captain Jayson Shaw stepped into the arena and handed the five-time champion his fifth consecutive Mosconi Cup appearance.
Beforehand, Alcaide had made light work of former UK Open champion Robbie Capito in the semi-finals, having already beaten the likes of Jeffrey Ignacio and Michael Baoanan during a tremendous campaign.
His gripping second round contest against popular Filipino teenager Jaybee Sucal will undoubtedly be his most memorable match, with 16-year-old phenom Sucal missing the eight ball on two occasions in a thrilling deciding rack.
Finland’s Sevastyanov, meanwhile, followed his impressive wins over Shane van Boening and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz at the US Open and the Hanoi Open respectively by reaching his maiden major final, continuing to make headway on the tour.
Sevastyanov had emerged through a dramatic contest against Jayson Shaw in the semi-finals, battling back from 9-5 behind and then witnessing his opponent miss a relatively routine nine ball in the deciding rack.
He became a Filipino fan’s favourite throughout the week because of the fast-paced nature of his play, also beating Roland Garcia, Jefrey Roda, Thorsten Hohmann and Mickey Krause in a hill-hill epic during a remarkable run.
Filipino legend Francisco Bustamante provided the highlight of the tournament, rolling back the years to stun Fedor Gorst in a hill-hill thriller, with the world number one squandering an ordinary nine ball in the all-important rack.
The inaugural Philippines Open concluded this year’s Matchroom open championships, with the Mosconi Cup bringing the curtain down on their season from December 3-6 at London’s Alexandra Palace.
