Aloysius Yapp has been on an absolute tear this year, winning three Majors on the WNT circuit which include the UK Open, US Open, and Florida Open. He also added The International 10 Ball Bigfoot Challenge and The International 9 Ball Open to his resume, with the latter marking his third consecutive title. That kind of run is almost unheard of in the modern era. Suffice to say, “Majinbu” is the runaway Player of the Year.

Fans know him best by his Dragon Ball Z nickname “Majinbu”, with his round, cheerful energy and that calm-but-deadly presence on the table. After reading more about how Yapp became this good, his determination reminds me of that Thanos moment when he sacrificed Gamora for the Soul Stone. Yapp knew at an early age that he wanted something bigger, and that it would cost him everything, or at least a normal childhood, to get it.

Aloysius Yapp was only fourteen when he made the most daring decision of his life. While his peers in Singapore were busy with exams and school activities, Yapp was convincing his mother to let him quit school so he could pursue a career in professional pool. The turning point came during a junior billiards exhibition in China, where he lost a friendly match to a sixteen-year-old world champion. He later found out that she had dropped out of school to train full-time, and it planted a bold idea in his mind. If she could do it, why not him?

On the flight home, Yapp made up his mind. He would leave school in Secondary Two and devote himself completely to pool. For a boy his age, it was almost unthinkable.

That decision did not come out of nowhere. Yapp’s passion for pool had been building for years. He fell in love with the game when he was eight after watching a match on TV. The sound of the balls and the swirl of colors mesmerized him.

He begged his parents for a toy table, and eventually a bigger one. By nine, he was spending every Friday at a local pool hall owned by Paul Pang, who became his first coach. Pang let him play against customers and taught him the fundamentals. This was not a hobby anymore. It was an obsession.

His mother, Angie Tay, did everything she could to support him. When he turned fourteen, she cleared out the family living room to make space for a seven-foot pool table. He would rush home after school and practice for hours. Even family vacations had to be planned around whether a pool table would be available.

By then, he was already beating older players and winning youth tournaments. He captured Singapore’s national Under-19 title, outplaying competitors much older than him.

But success brought a new dilemma. School started interfering with training. He skipped classes for practice and his grades fell. Yapp realized he had to choose.

He could not do both. He had to go all-in or walk away.

When he told his parents he wanted to quit school, they were shocked. Angie refused at first, but when she saw his resolve, she sat down with him for a serious talk. Yapp explained his dreams and promised that if he were allowed to go pro, he would be disciplined and treat pool like a real job.

This was not a phase. It was his purpose.

Moved by his maturity, Angie made a difficult decision. She let him leave school. She felt his talent and determination. Once she agreed, she supported him fully.

On his last day of school in 2011, there was no ceremony—just a young boy walking away from a classroom to chase a dream. He trained every morning at home watching videos of top players, then practiced all afternoon at the Chinese Swimming Club.

Others were not as supportive. Relatives, neighbors, even players told him he was too young, that he was being naive. But Yapp knew that not trying would hurt more.

He took night classes later on to complete basic subjects, but school was no longer the priority.

For a teenager in Singapore, where there are few pool halls and school is always a major focus, choosing pool as a career is almost unheard of. That is what makes Yapp’s rise feel even more bold and unlikely.

He had no backup plan. No daily school friends. No weekend hangouts. Just him and the table. It was a long and lonely road, but he stayed focused.

He credits his mother, who raised him alone after his father died when he was nine. She drove him to practice, bought equipment, and supported him when very few people did. He also had Pang and senior players guiding him. Leaving school finally gave him the freedom to compete.

At fifteen, he traveled for tournaments. At sixteen, he beat Efren “Bata” Reyes.

In 2014, the eighteen-year-old took home the Asian Junior title and then became the junior world champion when he won the nine-ball pool singles category at the Under-19 World Junior Championships in Shanghai—becoming the first Singaporean to win a world title in the sport.

But things were not always smooth after that. There was the disappointment of the 2015 SEA Games, where he was eliminated in the nine-ball singles quarter-finals on home soil. Then came 2016, a barren year filled with early exits and frustration.

After consulting his coach, Yapp changed the way he trained and slowly rebuilt his confidence. The work paid off when he won the men’s nine-ball doubles gold medal at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

After serving two years of National Service, Yapp was forced into an extended break from February 2020 to June 2021 due to the pandemic. Strangely enough, he said it became a blessing in disguise.

And by 2021, the upward trajectory was impossible to ignore. He finished third at the World 10-Ball Championship in Las Vegas, took second at the US Open 9-Ball later that month, and then won the Michigan 10-Ball Open—his first senior international title since 2017.

Fast forward to 2025, he made history by winning three Matchroom Open titles in a single season and capturing the International Open three years in a row. More than a decade after leaving school, Yapp is still learning and still pushing.

Most people take years to figure out what they want to do in life. Yapp knew it early, driven by an obsession with the game, and he gave everything he had to chase it. It is easy to admire him now as one of the best players in the world, but knowing what he went through and what he sacrificed makes that admiration even deeper. It is not just respect for Yapp the player. It is respect for Yapp the person.