Kyle Amoroto Wins the 2026 CBSA Pool 9-Ball Tour Peri-Laili Cup in Hainan: An All-Pinoy Final and What It Tells You About Modern Filipino Pool

Kyle Amoroto walked into the Wantai Gymnasium in Chengmai, Hainan with a deep field standing between him and a title, and walked out the champion of the 2026 CBSA Pool 9-Ball Tour Peri-Laili Cup. The Filipino star defeated countryman Anton Raga 15-10 in an all-Pinoy final, capping a week of clinical 9-ball that put another Philippine flag at the top of the international stage. For pool fans following Asian-circuit pool, the Peri-Laili Cup result is more than a headline. It is a window into how the modern Filipino pro plays the game, and which cues are doing the work when the racks count for real money.

Amoroto has been on the radar since shocking Shane Van Boening at the 2023 Hanoi Open, but Chengmai felt different. The format ran on tight tables, deep fields, and long sets, and the Filipino contingent dominated the brackets all week. Anton Raga himself ran through a brutal stretch of opponents to reach the final. Watching the two of them play down a 15-rack final on Chinese television was a reminder that nine-ball is in a very healthy place in the Philippines, with sponsors, juniors, and venues all stacked behind the players.

What the All-Pinoy Final Tells Us About Filipino Stroke Play

If you grew up watching Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, or Carlo Biado, the Amoroto-Raga final looked familiar. There was a quiet, almost loose pre-shot routine. There was a smooth, accelerating finish through the cue ball rather than a tight punch. There was a willingness to play three-rail position routes that most American leaguers would never attempt, and there was deep trust in cue ball speed when the layout asked for finesse. None of that is brand new, but it is a style that rewards a specific kind of equipment.

The Filipino pro tradition leans on cues that come alive at lower speeds, with shafts that hold a clean tip contact even when you are extending out for a long draw or a soft three-rail. That is why so many Asian-circuit pros have moved to low-deflection or carbon shafts on player cues that are forgiving when you are stroking out into the cue ball with a long, accelerating finish. It is also why mid-weight cues in the 19 to 19.5 ounce range continue to dominate Filipino pro player setups. Heavy cues fight against feel. Filipino pool is a feel game first.

The Cues That Suit a Pinoy-Style 9-Ball Stroke

If you are watching Amoroto and Raga and thinking, that is the kind of pool I want to play, your equipment matters more than you think. The good news is QKB stocks the same families of cues many pros from the Philippines and the rest of Asia gravitate toward. We are not telling you that buying a particular cue makes you a champion. We are telling you these cues are designed for a player who values feel, low deflection, and a stroke that finishes through the cue ball rather than at it.

Start with the Mezz Avant ZZAVN with Sigma Shaft. Mezz is a name you see often on Asian tour player cues for a reason. The Sigma shaft is one of the better wood low-deflection shafts on the market, and the no-wrap construction gives you direct feedback through the grip hand. Pinoy stroke style depends on light, sensitive grip pressure, and the Avant rewards that perfectly. Pair it with a sneaky pete butt if you want a lower-key look or step up to a fully appointed Mezz player cue if you want presentation.

For a more affordable entry into Asian-style player cues, look at the Pechauer JP04S S Series. Pechauer has a long history of being chosen by serious Filipino-American players who want a cue that holds up under heavy practice. The S Series is built around a speed joint that gets the cue out of its case quickly between racks, which matters in long match formats. It also balances close to the joint, which is the balance point most Pinoy pros prefer for soft cue ball shots.

If carbon fiber is where you want to be, the Cuetec Cynergy CT134 Ghost with the 11.8mm tip is a serious option for players chasing the same low-deflection feel that has taken over the world tour. The 11.8mm tip is squarely in the modern Filipino-pro sweet spot, smaller than American standard but larger than the Asian heyball 11.5mm. You get a cleaner shot center and a tighter pivot point, which translates directly to position routes that hold their lines.

For the player who wants a top-tier statement cue with a pro-grade shaft system, the Predator Throne3 3 is built for exactly this kind of game. The Throne3 family is the closest thing to seeing the cues many top pros are playing with on the World Nineball Tour. With a Predator REVO carbon shaft installed, the Throne3 3 has been the cue of choice for several pros who hit the ball with the same loose-finish style you saw in Hainan.

Why the Peri-Laili Cup Matters for the Rest of the Pool World

Asian-circuit events keep punching above their weight in the global rankings, and Chengmai is a reminder that the next wave of world-class 9-ball talent is being developed inside Philippine practice rooms and Chinese tour stops, not just at Matchroom majors. When you have a 15-10 final between two Filipino players in a CBSA-organized event in mainland China, the message is clear: the global pool calendar is genuinely global, and the cues those players use should be on your radar regardless of which league you grew up playing in.

Amoroto’s win also continues a strong year for Philippine pool overall. Between strong WPA showings, club-level tour victories, and a growing junior pipeline, the country is producing more international threats than at any time since the Reyes era. If you are buying your next cue because you want to play more like the players winning these events, leaning toward Mezz, Pechauer, Cuetec carbon, or Predator’s premium player models gives you a head start. None of those families are accidents on the pro pages of the world tour.

Drills That Translate Filipino Pool to Your Home Table

You do not need a Hainan-sized practice room to chase a Filipino-style stroke. Three drills will get you most of the way there. The first is the long stop-shot drill, in which you place the cue ball on the head string and the object ball on the foot string, and try to stop the cue ball dead in the foot string while pocketing the object ball straight in the corner. Run twenty in a row before you even think about adding spin, because a Filipino-style stroke is built on a perfectly level cue and a clean center-ball hit. The second drill is the long draw, same setup but draw the cue ball back to the head rail. The third is the L-drill, which forces you to play position from one half of the table to the other across multiple rails, exactly like Amoroto and Raga were doing all final.

If your stroke is good, your equipment can amplify it. If your stroke is loose and inconsistent, no shaft will fix that. Filipino pros log thousands of hours on those three drills before they ever step into a televised match. Treat your practice the same way and you will start to feel why the lighter, lower-deflection cues these pros pick suit the way they hit the ball.

Build Your Setup Around Stroke, Not Around Hype

The temptation after a big tournament is to chase the exact cue, shaft, tip, and chalk that the winner used. That is rarely the right move. Amoroto, Raga, and the rest of the field built their stroke first and let their equipment serve it. You should do the same. Pick a cue that lets you finish through the cue ball without fighting the joint, with a low-deflection shaft so your spin and aim adjustments stay small, and a tip diameter that matches the size of your hand and the length of your stroke. Anything in the 11.75 to 12.5mm range works for most amateur and serious players.

Browse the full lineup in our pool cues catalog, which is organized by brand and by skill tier. If you know you want to play a feel-driven, low-deflection setup like the Filipino pros, our Mezz pool cues page and the Predator cues page are the right starting points. Pair either with a quality case from our pool cue cases collection and you have a pro-style setup that will hold up to serious league and tournament play.

Kyle Amoroto winning Chengmai is a reminder that the ceiling for Asian-circuit pool keeps rising. Pick a cue that fits how you actually want to play, build the stroke that matches it, and the next time you watch a Pinoy final like this one, you will see the same techniques in your own game on your own home table.