Raga gatecrashes Euro Pool Championships Last 4

MANILA, Philippines — When he first picked up a cue stick and won his first tournament back home in Cebu City in 2010, Anthony Raga dreamt of carving his name in the history books as one of the sport’s best and brightest.

Thirteen years later, the 26-year-old Raga is on the cusp of achieving such a feat.

Sustaining his shot-making wizardry, Raga blasted past Canada’s John Mora, 10-6, and Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk, 10-7, Saturday to gatecrash the semis of the European Pool Championships in Fuda, Germany.

Raga joined a cast consisting of world champions in German Joshua Filler (9-Ball 2018), American Van Boening (9-Ball 2022) and Spaniard David Alcaide (World Pool Masters 2017).

The former University of Cebu-METC nautical student made it this far by riding roughshod over everyone he faced including former world 9-Ball and 10-Ball king Ko Pin-yi of Chinese Taipei via a quick, merciless 10-0 rout Thursday.

Van Boening, for his part, advanced after outlasting Austrian Mario He, 10-9, while Alcaide dispatched countryman and reigning world 9-Ball and 8-Ball titlist Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in a thrilling hill-hill showdown.