In what was a tense first G9BT semi-final, Chinese Taipei bet Wu Chia Ching downed Alex ‘The Lion' Pagulayan 9-6.

Wu stormed into the commanding 4-1 lead off the first five racks with Pagulayan seemingly distracted by the huge entourage of fans that have turned up in his support.

The Lion roared back and pushed the score back to 4-3 with two consecutive racks before the mandatory 7th rack break.

After the break, it was all one-way traffic as Wu gave little away on his breaks while Pagulayan committed some errors to send the score to 6-3.

The Filipino managed to calm his nerves and take down his fourth rack of the day before Wu responded with two fantastic racks to go on-the-hill at 8-4.

Just as the crowd started wondering if Pagulayan was crumbling under the pressure, the charismatic Filipino refused to give up without a fight while Wu showed some cracks in his game when he committed an error on the 8-ball in the 14th rack to allow Pagulayan a glimpse of hope at 8-6.

As the referee positioned the 15th rack, the tensed crowd burst into loud applause, trying to rally behind Pagulayan, but it was a case of leaving it way too late.

Wu stepped up and pummeled the balls down one by one to become the first finalist of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals in Jakarta.

Final score
Alex Pagulayan (PHI) 6-9 Wu Chia Ching (TPE)