Filipino Jonas Magpantay captures 9-ball crown in Indonesia

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino pool artist Jonas Magpantay reigned supreme during the Universal Open 9-Ball Pool Championships on June 28, 2026, at Pluit Village Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Magpantay officially sealed the title with a lopsided win over Taiwan’s Chang Sheng Yi in the championship stage, 13-5, and ended his incredible tournament run with an undefeated 8-0 record.

Coming off a dominant 11-3 semifinal win against compatriot Jefrey Roda to advance to the grand finals, Magpantay picked up where he left off and handed the Taiwanese challenger a demolition exhibition.

However, it wasn’t the dream start that Magpantay envisioned after Chang zoomed to a comfortable 2-0 lead by capitalizing on chances to clean the last four balls on the table.

Just when Chang thought he could sustain his momentum, Magpantay quickly flipped the switch, overwhelming him with a massive 6-0 run to take a four-rack lead.

After that window of opportunity, Magpantay began to steamroll his way in the final match as he wrapped up the last 35 minutes of pool action with a 9-3 closing avalanche.

Everything was on full display.

The signature position shots, kick shots to set up the defense, and the never-ending English spin tormented Chang and kept him from getting any open looks midway through the match.

Chang tried to mount a miraculous comeback after sweeping the first six balls in the 18th rack, but a fumbled draw shot on the seventh ball allowed Magpantay to finish the championship with three clean looks.

Before qualifying for the single-elimination knockout stage, Magpantay first got past Rio Pandu and Sarathnavind Devanthan, 9-4 and 9-0, respectively.

Magpantay began his playoff quest with a win over Kouki Sugiyama, 10-6, followed by back-to-back wins against Irsal Nasution, 10-6, and fellow Pinoy James Aranas, 10-6, to reach the quarterfinals.

Another Pinoy stood in his way in the quarterfinals, but Magpantay was able to outmaneuver Bernie Regalario, 11-5, en route to an 11-3 win over Roda to formalize his grand finals seat.

With the win, Magpantay took home the USD 15,000, or PHP 918,112, grand prize sanctioned by the World Nineball Tour.