Johann Chua is the epitome of optimism. “No one will remember who came in third place but I will as it proves that I’m getting closer,” he said following a crushing defeat in the World Pool Championship semi-finals. Despite being entangled in one of the most brutal sports, Chua remained positive that his moment in the limelight would arrive.
A milestone that was a perennial pipe dream would soon turn into reality. Following that World Championship penultimate hurdle near miss and further disappointment in the European Open final, Chua would fulfil his destiny and become the Hanoi Open champion in front of thousands of passionate Vietnamese fans, something his childhood self would have envisaged.
“I started when I was nine years old,” Chua explains. “My dad just accidentally switched the channel onto Sky Sports. We both saw sir Ralf Souquet and sir Mika Immonen playing in the finals of the 2001 World 9-Ball Championship. Mika cried when he potted the winning ball and that really struck me, that’s what made me fall in love with this game. He is the reason why I played billiards, he was my first idol here in this craft.”
Chua adds: “I was so young back then, but with my dad as my great support, I really believed in myself and I was so hooked on playing pool during that time. The fire and courage in me was so intense that I felt I could be like Mika Immonen, I pictured myself winning.”
From a nine-year-old upstart who was nicknamed little mouse because he couldn’t be seen behind the table to a major champion who was now the very centre of attention. Having sealed his initial success outside of his native Philippines in Vietnam a decade earlier, his journey came full circle as the popular Hanoi Open was the destination of his finest hour.
“I never really expected it to be honest. After I lost to Mickey Krause in the final of the European Open, the trophy was always near but it kept on slipping,” a candid Chua expresses, having beaten world champions Shane van Boening and Wojciech Szewczyk on his way to that final.
“That’s when I surrendered it all to God. I just did my part, I worked very hard in every aspect so that when the perfect time came, when all was in my favour, my skills were ready to grab it. Looking back and until now I feel so blessed because that day feels like everything was so aligned. I owe that to him, to my family and supporters.”
Chua had beaten the prodigiously-talented Albanian teenager Kledio Kaci and fellow Filipino Carlo Biado on his way to the final, although an onerous task awaited him there in Ko Pin-Yi – who had captured the hearts of the enthusiastic Vietnamese crowd. More than 3,000 passionate fans were in attendance.
Nerves were palpable during the early exchanges of what had become the loudest match on the World Nineball Tour calendar. Both players would have been fully aware of what to expect nonetheless, having witnessed the reverberating reaction to Jayson Shaw’s outrageous three-rail kick on his way to glory twelve months earlier.
“When I entered the arena, deep inside my heart I wanted to get the trophy for my country, I was playing not only for myself anymore,” Chua says. “During the finals thousands of people were watching in the arena and 80 percent, or maybe even 90 percent, of them were cheering for Ko Pin-Yi – he was the crowd favourite and I knew the world was expecting him to win the title.
“As you could see in the beginning of the match, I was so shakey, the pressure was too high for me and I was so overwhelmed. That’s when I thought of my wife Geona and my two kids, Justine and Jasmine, my supporters and countrymen and left it to God. I gathered my courage and confidence through them and I started to trust myself.
“That’s what made me stay in the match. That’s when I realised that I was not alone in the match. It’s not just me in there because if I think it’s all about me, the pressure will eat me. But because of their support and trust, I was able to trust that I could do it.
“That’s why when I potted the eight ball, I shouted ‘attin na to’ – which means ‘this is ours’. To some it might look like I was boasting or it was rude, but for me I shouted my heart out. I dedicate that to my country, my family and supporters. I shouted that to let them know that they were with me in that arena the entire time, that I won because they believed in me and the victory was not only mine.”
Capturing that elusive major accolade rounded off a sensational year for Chua, a season that witnessed his meteoric rise from 63rd on the nineball rankings to the world’s top eight. “I learned to accept my weaknesses and put everything into work,” he adds. “I practiced what I lacked on mentality and physically. It’s non-stop learning and practice.”
Despite rocketing into the upper echelons, being captained by the great Efren Reyes to inaugural Reyes Cup glory with Asia and establishing himself as one of the premier players on the World Nineball Tour, it was not a straightforward season. Failing to emerge through double elimination at last May’s UK Open was the turning point for him.
“During the first quarter of the year of 2024, I was playing so bad that I couldn’t even qualify for the last 64,” Manila’s Chua reflects. “The wake-up call for me was the UK Open – I worked on all my weaknesses when I got back home after that.
“I became true to myself to accept the fact that I had a lot of things I needed to adjust and improve on. I reached the semi-finals of World Championship two months later. It was my breakthrough and it felt like my hard work paid off.”
Chua has reached the world’s elite and achieved fame, now in the process of opening the Bad Koi Billiards hall in Manila, although he remains humble for the year ahead and that is his principal characteristic as a person. “As always my only goal is to perform and play my best,” Chua says, “and to inspire others to play this game and for others to see that this game is worth watching.”
