Player: Ronel Nalaunan
Event: Chinese Taipei Open
Location: Taipei City, Taiwan Date: January 11, 2026



In his debut as a member of Team Marboys, Ronel Nalaunan reinforced the idea you are the company you keep. A part of pool's most prestigious stable of players, the young Filipino showed out at last month's Chinese Taipei Open, shooting his way into the semifinals, where he faced Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz. The two split the first 20 racks in the race-to-11, with the two players exchanging safeties in the case game. As shown in the diagram, FSR sat the cue ball behind the 7 while sending the 3 ball up-table a few inches off the headrail.

With no direct path to the object ball, Nalaunan had to go to a rail for a legal hit. But he had bigger plans than simply making contact with the 3. “Toto Aklan,” as he's known, drew up a masterful two-rail kick that took as much guts as skill in a hill-hill set against a star like FSR. With a slightly elevated cue, Nalaunan thumped the cue ball off the right long rail and into the headrail. It then clipped the 3 ball at the perfect angle to send it into the top right corner, while it rolled back down-table, hit the 7 ball, and spun off the footrail and into shape for the 4 ball.

Undoubtedly juiced up on adrenaline after such a highlight reel shot, the young player kept his composure and called for an extension to play what was its own tricky position shot to get from the 4 to the 5. Nalaunan sank that shot with plenty of draw to get in shape on the 5. From there, he had no issues clearing the final five balls for a thrilling hill-hill victory. Though he battled hometown hero and crowd favorite Ko Pin Yi in the final, Nalaunan eventually fell, 13-11, in a promising start to a young professional career.

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