Johann Chua’s dream of winning the US Open Pool Championship went up in smoke after losing to home bet Fedor Gorst, 7-11, in the semifinal last Sunday at the Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City.

Chua, 33, ran out of steam against last year’s champion as he failed to become the third Filipino to win the prestigious tournament after Efren “Bata” Reyes in 1994 and Carlo Biado in 2021.

The Hanoi Open champion said he wasn’t able to recover in time to catch up to Gorst, who eventually lost the crown to Aloysius Yapp of Singapore, 11-13, in the championship match.

“I’m sorry I failed to get the trophy. I was uncomfortable on my first few racks, the pressure was too high and I managed to collect myself midway but it was a bit too late,” Chua said.

“But overall, it’s a great experience. I was able to learn more and it pushes me to be better.”

But Chua won’t leave Atlantic City with wads of cash in his pocket as he will get $25,000 (P1.4 million) for making it that far in the 256-player field.

On the way to the finals, Chua took down Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, 10-2, in the Round of 64 before toppling Alexander Kazakis of Greece in the Last 32, 10-6.

He then got past Aleksa Pecelj of Serbia in the Last 16, 10-7, and whacked Neils Feijen of the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, 10-2.

Chua was part of the 10 Filipino cue artists who made it to the second stage which included two-time world champion Carlo Biado.