PHILIPPINES OPEN

Philippines Open 2026: Bustamante and Neuhausen out, Alcaide survives, and Jaybee Sucal gets Denis Grabe

Two days in at Gateway Mall, the single-elimination draw has taken out a legend and the world No. 6. Here's what happened, who's booming on the Rack 9 board and who to watch next.

By Rack 9 · October 21, 2026

The 2026 Philippines Open is living up to its single-elimination billing. Round 1 is done, Round 2 is past the halfway mark, and three of the biggest stories are Filipino: Francisco "Django" Bustamante shut out 10–0, Meynard Tipawan knocking out the world No. 6, and a teenager from Sarangani back for another run.

The event runs October 20–24 in Quezon City with 128 players and a $100,000 prize fund. It's also the last event that counts toward Mosconi Cup qualifying.

The upsets so far

Round 1 knocked out four big names, all in front of a home crowd:

Rodrigo Geronimo d. Francisco Bustamante 10–0. A shutout of the legend who captained Team Asia at the Reyes Cup days earlier.
Meynard Tipawan d. Moritz Neuhausen 10–6. Tipawan isn't on the WNT world rankings; Neuhausen is world No. 6 and No. 6 on the Rack 9 Power Rankings.
Rommel Janael Santos d. AJ Manas 10–9. Manas played for Team Asia at the Reyes Cup.
Saldy Galliguez d. Lukas Fracasso-Verner 10–5. It ended the American's automatic Mosconi Cup hopes.

Alex Pagulayan (lost 10–6 to Edwin Dela Cruz Gamas) and Lee Vann Corteza (lost 10–9 to Calil Ramber) also went out in Round 1.

The giant-killers haven't all kept going. Tipawan lost 10–2 to Bryant Saguiped in Round 2, and Galliguez went out 10–9 to Antonio Lining. Dela Cruz Gamas kept rolling, beating Harry Vergara 10–5 to set up a Round 3 match with Robbie Capito, and Tristan Deocareza beat Duong Quoc Hoang 10–7.

Among the favorites, Aloysius Yapp (10–5 over Geronimo), Capito (10–4), Johann Chua (10–5), Jefrey Roda (10–7 over Dennis Orcollo), Thorsten Hohmann and Justin Bergman are into Round 3. Live scores for every match are on the Scores page.

Jaybee Sucal: the fan favorite is back, and the draw just got hard

Jaybee Sucal is through to Round 2 after beating Sean Mark Malayan 10–8 on Wednesday in Manila. Next up is Estonia's Denis Grabe, the 2026 Arizona Open champion, on Thursday at 2:00 PM Manila time (2:00 AM ET Thursday).

Sucal became a crowd favorite at the first Philippines Open in 2025. At 16, the viral trick-shot talent from Sarangani won his first official tournament match 10–9 over Paul John Ortega. In the next round he took David Alcaide hill-hill before losing 10–9, and Alcaide went on to win the title.

Grabe is a step up from anything Sucal has faced this week. He knocked out world No. 1 Aloysius Yapp on the way to the Arizona Open title in August, and opened here with a 10–7 win over John Carlo Miraflor.

The lookout: A win over Grabe would put Sucal into Round 3 against the winner of Mickey Krause vs Baseth Mocaibat, and make him one of the stories of the week. On the Rack 9 Boom or Bust board, Sucal is booming at +34 off his opening win, while Grabe is holding steady at +9.

David Alcaide: the defending champion, one rack from going home

David Alcaide's title defense nearly ended in Round 2. The Spaniard beat Paul John Ortega 10–9 on Wednesday in Manila, the same player Sucal beat in Round 1 last year.

His opener was easier: a 10–1 win over Rodlin John Bautista. Last year he won the first Philippines Open by beating Arseni Sevastyanov 13–3 in the final, after beating Robbie Capito 10–4 in the semi-finals. Sevastyanov is already out this year, beaten 10–8 by Justin Bergman.

The lookout: Alcaide plays the winner of Skyler Woodward vs Ralf Souquet in Round 3, Thursday at 6:00 PM Manila time (6:00 AM ET). He's booming at +35 on the Rack 9 board and sits No. 9 on the Power Rankings. Capito, the man he beat in last year's semi-finals, is in the other half of the draw and booming at +44.

Power Rankings check: who's booming, who's holding steady

Every Power Rankings player still in the draw has won at least once, but they aren't all running hot. The Rack 9 Boom or Bust board scores each player's form from –100 to +100, based on their last five matches, how dominant the wins were and who they beat. +25 or higher is booming. Ratings as of Wednesday morning ET:

No. 1 Aloysius Yapp: booming, +36. Round 3 next.
No. 2 Carlo Biado: holding steady, +12. Round 2 vs John Rebong.
No. 3 Francisco Sánchez Ruiz: booming, +43. Round 2 vs Nguyen Quang Minh.
No. 4 Fedor Gorst: booming, +29. Round 2 vs Jerico Banares.
No. 6 Moritz Neuhausen: out, lost 10–6 to Tipawan.
No. 9 David Alcaide: booming, +35. Round 3 vs the Woodward/Souquet winner.
No. 10 Johann Chua: booming, +62. Round 3 next.
No. 11 Robbie Capito: booming, +44. Round 3 vs Edwin Dela Cruz Gamas.
No. 14 Shane Van Boening: holding steady, +24. Round 2 vs John Albert Refulle.
No. 19 Jefrey Roda: booming, +29. Round 3 vs Antonio Lining.

The surprise is Biado. The world champion opened with a 10–0 shutout, yet he's only holding steady at +12, because his last three majors pull his rating down and his volatility is high. Chua is the hottest name on the Power Rankings at +62: two dominant wins, 10–1 and 10–5, in front of the home crowd.

Players to watch

Johann Chua. The hottest Power Rankings player in the draw, and the biggest home hope after Biado.
Edwin Dela Cruz Gamas. He knocked out Alex Pagulayan, beat Harry Vergara and now gets Robbie Capito. He's booming at +53.
Tristan Deocareza. Two wins, including 10–7 over Duong Quoc Hoang, and +62 on the board. He plays Thorsten Hohmann next.
Fedor Gorst and Francisco Sánchez Ruiz. Both opened with big wins (10–0 and 10–2) after the Reyes Cup and play Round 2 on Thursday.

The Mosconi Cup race

This is the last event that counts for Mosconi Cup qualifying. Shane Van Boening has the first Team USA spot. Tyler Styer ($27,470), Thorsten Hohmann ($25,050) and Fedor Gorst ($24,870) are fighting for the other two automatic places.

Styer isn't in the field, so his total can't move. Hohmann is into Round 3 after beating Chezka Centeno and José Alberto Delgado, and a run to the last 16 ($2,500) would take him past Styer. Gorst, who plays Jerico Banares on Thursday, would need to reach the quarter-finals ($5,000) to do the same. The top three after the final on October 24 qualify, and captain Johan Ruijsink picks two wildcards.

What fans are talking about

Django's shutout. Bustamante losing 10–0 in Round 1, days after captaining Team Asia at the Reyes Cup, was one of the first headlines out of Manila.
The home-crowd upsets. Filipino players took out Neuhausen, Bustamante, Manas and Pagulayan in Round 1, and Chua, Roda, Deocareza and Dela Cruz Gamas are among the Filipinos already into Round 3.
Sucal's return. His 2025 hill-hill match with Alcaide made him a crowd favorite last year, and fans are back for the sequel against Grabe.
The Mosconi math. American fans are watching Hohmann and Gorst result by result after Fracasso-Verner's Round 1 exit.

Schedule and how to watch

Thu Oct 22, 12:00–2:00 PM Manila (12:00–2:00 AM ET): Round 2 finishes, including Biado, Gorst, Van Boening, Sánchez Ruiz and Sucal.
Thu Oct 22, 4:00–6:00 PM Manila (4:00–6:00 AM ET): Round 3, including Yapp, Alcaide, Chua, Capito and Hohmann.
Fri Oct 23: later rounds (times not yet posted).
Sat Oct 24: semi-finals and final.

WNT TV streams three tables for subscribers, and a fourth table is free on Matchroom Pool's YouTube channel. One Sports carries it in the Philippines. See Where to Watch and the Scores page for every match.

Who's your pick to win it? Tell us on Instagram or Facebook at @rack9pool.