Work ethic behind Aloysius Yapp’s most prolific season as he seals International Open hat-trick

SINGAPORE – When every other world-class player had retired for the day, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp was seen practising his breaking and potting on a pool table past 1am at the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort in Florida, United States, on Nov 19.

Such a work ethic – even after he had won a tournament two nights before – is the key reason behind his most prolific season, which has seen him rack up 10 titles.

Before that, his most successful season was in 2023 when he won six titles.

On Nov 23, he retained his International 9-ball Open crown for a second time with a 13-11 win over Spaniard Francisco Sanchez Ruiz – six days after winning the International Open Big Foot 10-ball Challenge title.

Unsurprisingly, the 29-year-old said after he bagged the winner’s cheque of US$40,000 (S$52,000) to add to the US$16,000 from the earlier event: “There is no secret formula, just practise a lot and pray to God.

“I still have got lots to work on, everything in fact. Everyone is so tough to play, so I can only get better.”

In the US$32,000 10-ball tournament, Yapp beat American Karl Pischinger 10-0, Filipinos Lee van Corteza (10-2) and 2025 world nine-ball and 2024 world 10-ball champion Carlo Biado (10-9), before defeating Japan’s Naoyuki Oi 10-3 in the final.

His perfect fortnight continued in the US$171,000 nine-ball event, where he received a first-round bye and survived a tricky match against American Miguel Batista (10-9) before overcoming Dutchman Yannick Pongers (10-4) and American Lukas Fracasso-Verner (10-4).

In the elimination rounds, he beat Greek Alex Kazakis (10-5), American Skyler Woodward (10-9) and Pole Wiktor Zielinski (10-5) to reach the final.

In a roller-coaster first-to-13 finale against Sanchez Ruiz, Yapp led 4-2 but trailed 5-7, with the duo inseparable at 10-10.

While leading 11-10, he showed his first signs of frustration when he slammed the chalk against the table after he miscued as he potted the five-ball. But he kept his nerve to clear the table and take a decisive two-rack lead in the alternate-break format.

In the next frame, he struck the table again, this time with his cue, after he scratched off the two-ball. This came after he had decided to play following a push from Sanchez Ruiz, who ran out to narrow the gap to 12-11.

Then came the decisive rack where Yapp pounded his chalk yet again after running out of positions on the four-ball.

Remaining clear-headed under pressure, he played a good safety shot that led to his opponent scratching, allowing Yapp to secure a sensational hat-trick across three years over 23 wins and a single 10-9 loss to Albin Ouschan in the first stage in 2023.

A three-week break in Singapore after

his Reyes Cup triumph

helped him recharge as he was close to burnout from a long and hectic season. Yapp is grateful to his family and girlfriend for their support, as he is set to overtake Biado into second place in the World Nineball Tour ranking behind Russian-American Fedor Gorst.

He also had help from Taiwan, as he quipped: “I’ve tried to shape my cue tip myself and ruined it, so I’m thankful for my friend Amo Wu who is here to help me with it, although I stared at him when I miscued. Luckily I still made the shot.”

Those who have seen him putting in the hours to hone his craft will insist he deserves all his good fortune and achievements in 2025 – his other wins being the National Nine-ball and 10-ball Open Championships,

UK Open, Florida Open, US Open

, Formosa Cup Taipei Open, Anti-Drug Cup and Reyes Cup.

He will round up his season at the Dec 16-21 Jax Open in Florida and will not feature in the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand as pool is not part of the programme.

Meanwhile in Australia, compatriot Karthik Ramaswamy won the Queensland Open Billiards title by beating India’s Dinesh Bajaj 432-263 in the final on Nov 23. The 40-year-old will join Peter Gilchrist in their hunt for the English billiards gold at the SEA Games.

Cuesports Singapore president Christopher Chuah said: “It’s been an amazing year for our very own Aloysius with his third successive International Open victory coming in the wake of another successful Reyes Cup campaign.

“We are truly delighted and overwhelmed by his sterling performances on the international stage which will go down in history and be spoken about for years to come. His success is also timely inspiration for our other athletes gearing up for the SEA Games next month.”