Anthony Raga finishes runner-up after climatic European Pool Championship 2023 finals VS Spain's David Alcaide

Filipino cue artist Anthony Raga settled for runner-up in the 2023 European Pool Championship on Sunday night, August 13, at the Hotel Esperanto in Fulda, Germany.

Raga lost to Spain's David Alcaide in a heartbreaking fashion, 13-12, after miscalculating a 6-7 combo in the deciding 25th and final rack.

The 26-year-old Raga, who his peers called "The Dragon", miscalculated the critical shot that might have won him the European tilt.

Unfortunately, he missed the chance, and Alcaide seized the opportunity and succeeded.

The Filipino and Spaniard pool masters had a dramatic finale to remember with the audience mesmerized by the nine deadlocks recorded and no one leading by more than three racks.

Overcoming a 10-8 deficit, Raga fired ahead, 12-11, before Alcaide forced hill-hill.

The former University of Cebu-METC nautical student took home his share of 15,000 dollars or 854,000 pesos, while Alcaide, two-time World Pool Masters champion, earned 30,000 dollars or 1.68 million pesos.

Reaching the finals as an unheralded billiards ace, Raga let the world know his name after amassing superb victories all tournament long.

Raga, ranked 114th out of the 256 participating players, rose from the loser's bracket in the competition organized by Matchroom Pool as part of its World Nineball Tour.

In his first two matches in the knockout rounds, Raga overcame Poland's Mateusz Sniegocki, 10-8, and blanked Chinese Taipei's Ko Pin Yi, 10-0.

Then, he eliminated John Morra of Canada, 10-4, in the Round of 16 before knocking Wojciech Szewczyk of Poland out of contention in the quarterfinals, 10-7. Raga faced home bet Joshua Filler in the semifinals and went through a needle's eye to secure a finals berth, 11-9.