Lourence Ilagan defeated compatriot Sandro Eric Sosing in convincing fashion to lift the 2024 PDC Asian Championship title in Manila on Sunday.
Ilagan - an eight-time World Championship qualifier - ran out a 7-3 winner against Sosing to pocket the $15,000 top prize and follow in the footsteps of previous winners Christian Perez and Haruki Muramatsu.
The third staging of the PDC Asian Championship saw the continent’s biggest names going head-to-head in the Philippines, and it was Ilagan who produced the goods on home soil to seal a place in next month’s Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts.
The 46-year-old eased through the round-robin phase with wins over Hong Kong’s Royden Lam and South Korea’s Woonghee Han, before converting clinical 121 and 82 finishes to wrap up a 5-3 success against his countryman John Marco Lumilang in the last 16 on Saturday.
Following a gruelling quarter-final victory against Reynaldo Rivera to open Finals Day on Sunday, Ilagan then reeled off five consecutive legs to dispatch Malaysia’s Jenn Ming Tan in the last four, which set up a fascinating showdown against 2023 runner-up Sosing.
Ilagan opened Sunday’s final with an immediate break of throw to seize the early initiative, although Sosing recovered from a sluggish start to reduce the arrears to 4-3.
Ilagan restored a two-leg buffer with a 14-dart hold in leg eight, and after taking out 86 to move a leg away from glory, the enigmatic Filipino pinned double 12 to prevail with a 92.71 average and four 180s.
Sosing, meanwhile, saw off Yoshihisa Baba, Rodolfo Jr. Escaros and Lok Yin Lee in the knockout stages to progress to a second PDC Asian Championship final, which also confirms his Paddy Power World Darts Championship return.
The 41-year-old launched an astonishing comeback from 4-1 down to beat Baba in the last 16, rattling off legs of 13, 13, 16 and 15 darts to advance to the last eight, where he proved too strong for his countryman Escaros.
Sosing then fended off a valiant fightback from Lee in the semi-finals, surviving a match dart in the decider after the Hong Kong ace had recovered from 5-2 adrift to threaten an unlikely turnaround.
Ilagan was already assured of a World Darts Championship place ahead of this weekend, after securing a top-four finish on the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit alongside his compatriots Alexis Toylo, Paolo Nebrida and Japan’s Ryusei Azemoto.
However, Ilagan will make his Grand Slam of Darts debut in Wolverhampton next month, as a star-studded 32-player field compete for the coveted Eric Bristow Trophy from November 9-17 at WV Active Aldersley.
Sosing will make his second straight World Darts Championship appearance after scooping the $7,000 runner-up prize, and he will be joined at Alexandra Palace by his semi-final opponent Lee.
Following Ilagan's exploits in Manila, Hong Kong's Lee claimed the remaining World Championship qualification spot as the next-best-placed non-qualified player from the PDC Asian Championship, ahead of Tan by virtue of final PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit position.
2024 PDC Asian Championship
Sunday October 20
Quarter-Finals
Lok Yin Lee 6-2 Alexis Toylo
Sandro Sosing 6-3 Rodolfo Jr. Escaros
Lourence Ilagan 6-4 Reynaldo Rivera
Jenn Ming Tan 6-3 Marvic Meana
Semi-Finals
Sandro Sosing 6-5 Lok Yin Lee
Lourence Ilagan 6-1 Jenn Ming Tan
Final
Lourence Ilagan 7-3 Sandro Sosing