By MARK REY MONTEJO
Jonas Magpantay annihilated Chinese Taipei’s Chang Sheng Yi, 13-5, to reign supreme in the 2026 Universal 9-Ball Open in Jakarta, Indonesia Sunday, June 28.
One of five top Filipino players in the four-day meet, Magpantay, 32, easily erased an early 0-2 deficit with several brilliants to storm to a 6-2 lead which he smartly and gallantly protected en route to a runaway win in their race-to-13 title showdown.
The title win enabled Magpantay to pocket the top purse of $15,000 (P919,192) in the competition where world champions Carlo Biado, and Singaporean Aloysius Yapp also saw action.
Yi, on the other hand, settled for the runner up prize of $8,000 (P490,236).
“I would like to dedicate my victory to my family, my friends, my sponsors, my country and to God,” said the Bansud, Oriental Mindoro native.
Prior to his title victory, Magpantay, the winner of last year’s Qatar World Ten-ball Cup, dumped Jefrey Roda, 11-3, in their all-Filipino semis clash which came after he bested compatriot Bernie Regalario, 11-6, in the quarters.
Magpantay also got the better of James Aranas, 10-6, in the Last 16, while scoring 10-6 wins over Indonesian Irsal Nasution and Japanese Kouki Sugiyama in Rounds of 32 and 64, respectively.
He also beat Indonesia’s Rio Pandu (9-4) and Singapore’s Sarathnavind Devanthan (9-0) in the opening round.
This victory also boosted Magpantay’s morale as he competes in the Asian Pool Championship slated July 10 to 15 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
