APT Finale Philippines 2018: Aditya Sushant Makes Final 8 in Championships Event, Seongsu Kong & Joseph Sia Win Side Events

The 2018 Asian Poker Tour (APT) Philippines was bustling with activity, big scores and disappointing eliminations on December 4. While the series’ second featured event i.e. the Championships Event played down to the final table, the WeLoveSport (WLS) Deep Stack Turbo event and Super Deep Stack Turbo events crowned winners.

While Bobby Zhang (1,001,000) leads the eight-player final table in the Championships Event, India`s Aditya Sushant (188,000) has also stormed his way into the final table albeit with a short stack.

Sushant has been on a title-winning spree recently. After taking down the ₹35K NLHE Main Event in the Baadshah Gaming Live Tournament third edition (BLT3) for ₹8.85 Lakhs in October, he went on to win the ₹20K NLHE Kickoff at the 2018 World Poker Tour (WPT) India for ₹9.35 Lakhs. While he is currently sixth in chips among the final table contenders, Sushant is more than capable to making a comeback to clinch his first APT title today.

Another Indian challenger, Madhav Gupta, who had brought a stack of 126,400 to Day 2, fell out empty-handed before the bubble.

Meanwhile, the WeLoveSport (WLS) Deep Stack Turbo saw 75 entries and was taken down by Joseph Sia for PHP 99,100. In the Super Deep Stack Turbo, Seongsu Kong outran 84 runners to win the APT trophy and PHP 218,000 in prize money.

Championships Event – Day 2

The Championships Event played out Day 2 with 33 players from Day 1 returning to the felts. With 17 more players jumping in, the field size grew to 71, and the prize pool overshot the PHP 10 Million mark to reach PHP 10,330,500.

After the entries closed, a fast-paced run saw players dropping fast and within the next two levels the field whittled down to half its start-of-day numbers.

Team India’s Aditya Sushant who had entered Day 2 with a stack of 147,400 kept on an upward drive through the play. Sushant orchestrated the elimination of Stephen Miles in a hand where his were trailing the of Miles but he hit two pair on the board.

Sushant had a swingy run though, and lost a hand to Henrik Tollefson, only to make up by fending off an attempted bluff by Day 1 leader, Eunho Kwon to scoop a monster pot that left Kwon with crumbs. By then, Sushant was among the top stacks with over 500,000 in his kitty. However, with the bubble round closing in, Sushant lost a big hand to Zhang with his trailing Zhang’s on a runout, to find his stack diminished to 300,000 while Zhang neared 900,000.

Sushant lost another big pot to Lim Yohwan towards the fag end of the play, but managed to carry a stack of 188,000 to the final table and remains in the reckoning for the APT trophy.

Madhav Gupta was the other Indian returning to Day 2 with a stack of 126,400. Early into play, Gupta clashed with Seongsu Kong and ran down Kong’s with his , sending Kong to the rail. Gupta also chipped up well, winning a hand against Roger Spets with his improving to three-of-a-kind on the board . However, Gupta couldn’t continue his run beyond the bubble, and was eliminated short of the money line.

The bubble approached and with 12 players set to pick up at least the minimum guaranteed PHP 237,000, Masaki Fujitani and Lim Yohwan scored crucial double-ups to stride past the bubble. Dongkyoon Seo didn’t find any help coming his way and ended up as the bubble boy after running his into IoriYogo’s .

Some surprise eliminations included Cao Ngoc Anh, Lester Edoc, Mike Takayama and Kosei Ichinose, all of whom were eliminated empty-handed. Takao Shimizu (10^th for PHP 277,300), Jim Bonanno (11^th for PHP 237,000) and Masaki Fujitani (12th for PHP 237,000) were among the other notables who fell short of the final table.

Jin Yong (9^th for PHP 324,400) ended up bubbling the final table after running into Roger Spets who held and hit a straight on the rundown.

Leading the eight-handed final table is Bobby Zhang (1,001,000) while Anthony Thong Boon Teeb (793,000) and Iori Yogo (652,000) round off the top three stacks. The final table resumes action today!

Final Table Chip Counts

1.Bobby Zhang – 1,001,000

2. Anthony Thong Boon Tee – 793,000

3. Iori Yogo – 652,000

4. Roger Spets – 435,000

5. Andrew Nguyen – 210,000

6. Aditya Sushant – 188,000

7. Lim Yohwan – 162,000

8. Henrik Tollefsen – 110,000

Super Deep Stack Turbo

For players who fell out of the Championships Event, the various side events offered a chance to take home an APT trophy. One such player was Seongsu Kong, who right after his elimination from the Championships Event at the hands of Madhav Gupta dived into the Super Deep Stack Turbo and overcame 84 competitors to claim the winner’s payday of PHP 218,000.

Kong had Oxvind Ellingsen from Norway to defeat in the heads-up play, and he did so in style, scoring his third cash at the series.

WLS Deep Stack Turbo

The WeLoveSport (WLS) Deep Stack Turbo featuring a PHP 5,500 buy-in drew 75 hopefuls vying for the top spot. Eventually, local player Joseph Sia won the event after defeating Anthony Castro in the heads-up match. Sia banked PHP 99,100 in prize money.

APT Player of the Series contender Mike Takayama strengthened his position on the leaderboard by posting a score in the event.

Content & Images courtesy – www.theasianpokertour.com.

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