APT Jeju Station | Tarun Guwalani reverses Hongbo Pan to win Baby Zodiac's first title, with a Chinese player finishing as runner-up.

On October 5, 2026, Day 11 of the 128th APT Series – APT Jeju 2026 – saw only two days remaining before the series concluded. The day's biggest highlight was the inaugural Baby Zodiac Classic, sponsored by Natural8, where Indian player Tarun Guwalani staged a remarkable comeback from a head-up deficit to defeat Chinese player Hongbo Pan and claim his first APT title.

On the same day, the Micro Main Event, with a buy-in of 750,000 Korean won, completed its three starting groups, with 173 entries and 26 players advancing to the next round; while in Event #111, the Ultimate Deepstack High Roller event, Chinese player Jiaxian Pan led the 41-player final round with 1,358,000 chips.

223 people competed for the inaugural Baby Zodiac, with a total prize pool of 289 million Korean won.

The first Baby Zodiac Classic purchase was:

1,500,000 Korean won

The event attracted:

223 participants

Actual participants:

152 people

The total prize pool eventually reached:

289,008,000 Korean Won

This amounted to approximately US$217,300, making it the tenth largest prize pool event at the time of the APT Jeju event.

A total of 69 players advanced from Day 1 to the final round, with 31 of them making it into the prize pool, with a minimum prize of 2,540,000 Korean won.

Baby Zodiac Classic Core Data

Guwalani completed a comeback from 4-5 down after 29 shots to head-up.

The championship match was between Tarun Guwalani and Chinese player Hongbo Pan.

Upon entering Heads-Up, Guwalani's scoreboard was approximately:

4 to 5

Pan is lagging behind.

The two sides did not quickly determine a winner, and the heads-up match lasted for 29 hands, spanning nearly three 40-minute blind levels.

Guwalani ultimately turned the tide on the scoreboard, defeating Pan to claim the inaugural Baby Zodiac Classic title.

He achieved:

61,158,000 Korean Won

That's about $45,980.

This is not only Guwalani's first APT title, but also his first live tournament title; the prize money is the second highest single live tournament earnings of his career.

Hongbo Pan finished as runner-up, earning 41.15 million won, a new career high.

Although Chinese player Hongbo Pan had a slight lead at the start of the one-on-one match, he ultimately failed to maintain his advantage.

He finished as runner-up:

41,150,000 Korean Won

That's about $30,940.

Although he missed out on his first APT title, this prize money still represents Pan's best result in a live tournament.

British athlete Ryan Plant finished third:

29,020,000 Korean Won

That's about $21,820.

This marks Plant's fifth appearance on the money and fourth time reaching the Final Table at this year's APT Jeju, including one victory. With this third-place finish, his total winnings in this series have surpassed $194,000.

Baby Zodiac Classic Top Three

The final table also includes Shouda Zhang, John Matsuda, Motokatsu Uhara, Maxim Sorokin, Meng Dian Peng, and Nikita Ustiuzhanin.

Natural8 brand ambassador Hua Wei Lin finished in 10th place, earning 5,920,000 won, narrowly missing out on her 26th APT Final Table.

Other notable players who made it into the money included Trung Quan Nguyen (13th), former APT Jeju Main Event champion Abraham Ceesvin (18th), Day 1 chip leader Leonard Ng (21st), Dmitrii Belikov (23rd), David “Spade” Erquiaga (28th), and WSOP bracelet winner Maxim Lykov (31st).

The Micro Main Event had 173 participants across three groups, with 26 advancing.

Besides the Baby Zodiac Classic, another highlight of Day 11 was the Micro Main Event, which was purchased for 750,000 won.

Three initial combination schemes attract:

173 people

Actual participants:

98 people

The top 141 players in each starting group (TP3T) qualified for the final round, resulting in a total of:

26 people advanced

The total prize pool is:

125,000,000 Korean Won

That's about $93,985.

All 26 finalists have entered the prize pool, with a minimum prize of 1,260,000 Korean won and the ultimate champion will receive 27,980,000 Korean won and the APT Silver Lion trophy.

Micro Main Event Core Data

Weimin Chen leads Group A; two Chinese athletes surpass 400,000.

Group A is the largest of the three starting groups, with a total of 81 participants.

After 16 30-minute rounds, 12 people successfully advanced.

Weimin Chen, a Chinese player who reached the final table of this year's APT Jeju Main Event, continued his form and achieved the following:

450,000 Scoreboard

Securing the chip lead in Group A.

Compatriot Guanglin Chen followed closely behind with 434,000, making them the only two players in Group A to break the 400,000-point mark.

Ethiopian athlete Berhanu Kassa ranked third with 287,000.

Other finishers include Maggie Weng from Taiwan with 116,000, and Daisuke Abiko, the Mystery Bounty Hunter champion, with 81,000.

Haruki Ichiki became the chip leader with 556,000 chips.

Group B attracted 56 participants, and after 21 20-minute rounds, 8 finalists were selected.

Japanese athlete Haruki Ichiki:

556,000 Scoreboard

He became the top player in Group B and also the player with the most chips among the 26 finalists.

Hong Kong, China's Tsz Yeung Ka ranked second in Group B with 336,000 points, while Dejin Xu ranked third with 229,000 points.

The Micro Main Event has announced the leaders for each group.

Yingjie Chen leads Group C; Chinese athletes sweep the top three spots.

Group C adopted a fast-paced format, with 36 participants, of whom 6 advanced.

Chinese athlete Yingjie Chen:

372,000 Scoreboard

He won first place in Group C and was the only player in the group to break the 300,000-point mark.

Yuxuan Hou ranked second with 183,000 points, and Su Jing ranked third with 180,000 points. Chinese players swept the top three spots in Group C.

Natural8 brand ambassador Hui Wei Lin also qualified for the final round with 125,000 chips.

The 26 players will return to the tables on October 6 to compete directly for the Micro Main Event championship and the Silver Lion trophy.

Extreme Deepstack High Roller Tournament: Jiaxian Pan leads with 41 players

Another major event on Day 11 is Event #111 Extreme Deepstack High Roller.

This bet:

4,300,000 Korean won

Co-attracted:

141 people

form:

Total prize pool of 523,650,200 Korean won

That's about $393,870.

After Day 1, only 41 players remained. The top 20 will enter the prize pool, with a minimum prize of 7,020,000 Korean Won. The final champion will receive:

125,713,200 Korean Won

That's about $94,520.

Chinese players swept the first three scoring slots.

After Day 1, Chinese players occupied the top three positions on the chip leaderboard.

Jiaxian Pan:

1,358,000

Acquire the chip king.

Hang Xu is only 3,000 chips behind, in:

1,355,000

Ranked second.

Yaoyu He holds:

1,322,000

It ranked third.

Top three chips in the Deepstack High Roller event

Pan has already made two money runs and one Final Table finish at this year's Jeju race; if he wins, the prize money will be nearly double his previous career best live performance.

Yaoyu He has already entered the money four times in this series and will continue to seek his next APT championship since the 2023 APT Hanoi Summer Series in the final round.

American Stanley Weng is currently in fourth place. He has won the Super High Roller title and finished as runner-up in the Hyper Turbo High Roller in this series.

Xuan Zhou wins PLO championship, securing his first APT title.

Event #110 Pot-Limit Omaha High had 38 participants.

Chinese athlete Xuan Zhou ultimately reached the summit, achieving the following:

8,300,432 Korean won

That's about $6,126.

This is his first APT championship in his career.

Yih Ming Hsu, a three-time champion in this series, finished as runner-up and earned 5,710,000 won; Douglas Jose De Melo Costa finished third and earned 3,640,000 won.

A total of 5 people made it into the prize pool in this round.

Geka Aoi wins the Goddess Contest again

Japanese player Geka Aoi once again topped the Goddess Tournament in Event #112.

She previously won her first APT title at Event #57, and won again in this 8-player tournament, achieving:

1,892,115 Korean won

She won two titles in this series of Goddess competitions.

Chinese athlete Xinran Ma won the runner-up title and 1,060,000 Korean won.

A rare result occurred in the Heads-Up Deal: the winner's prize money was lower than the runner-up's.

Event #113 Fixed Limit Triple Draw Mix had 19 participants.

Russian athlete Alena Ermaskevich and Taiwanese athlete Kuo Wei Kao reached an agreement after entering Heads-Up.

Ermaskevich ultimately won the championship and his first APT trophy, achieving the following:

2,227,728 Korean won

Kao received a substantial cash reward according to the agreement:

6,050,000 Korean won

Therefore, the champion title and the highest prize money were awarded to different players in this competition.

Six-time APT champion Yun Lam Kevin Choi finished third and won 2,130,000 won.

Zeng Weiyong and Wei Sun complete a series double title

Chinese player Zeng Weiyong won the title in the 10-player Event #114 Big O high-speed race, earning 1,970,160 Korean won.

He had previously won Event #44 NLH Bounty, making this his second title at this year's APT Jeju.

Event #116 NL ROSET was reigned supreme by Wei Sun.

Wei Sun had previously won the Event #29 NL Triple Draw Mix, and this time he earned another 1,770,144 Korean won, increasing his career APT title count to:

3 seats

They also secured two titles in this series.

Zhenye Zhou wins his first career title, Guangling Chen wins his second consecutive race.

Event #115 Hyper Turbo had 24 participants.

Chinese athlete Zhenye Zhou ultimately won the championship, achieving:

3,726,345 Korean won

And his first APT championship.

Compatriot Chen Zhang won the runner-up position and 2,480,000 won.

In the final match, Event #117 Super Sonic, Chinese player Guangling Chen emerged victorious.

He had previously earned his first live tournament winnings and an APT title at Event #108 Super Sonic, and now he has topped the field of 14 players, achieving:

1,610,268 Korean Won

He won his second APT championship in a short period of time.

Day 11 Partial Tournament Champions

The APT Jeju tournament enters its final two days, with Chinese players vying for the title across multiple events.

With Day 11 completed, only two more days of competition remain until the official conclusion of the 2026 APT Jeju Station.

Tarun Guwalani staged a comeback to win the inaugural Baby Zodiac Classic, while Chinese player Hongbo Pan set a new career high with a runner-up prize of 41,150,000 Korean won.

On the next day of competition, Chinese players will continue to be competitive across multiple fronts. In the Micro Main Event, Weimin Chen, Guanglin Chen, Yingjie Chen, and several others entered the 26-player final round with top-ranked chips; in the Ultimate Deepstack High Roller event, Jiaxian Pan, Hang Xu, and Yaoyu He directly took the top three chips.

With the series entering its final sprint, the champions of the Micro Main Event and the Extreme Deep Stack High Roller event will be the main focus before the APT Jeju Station concludes.

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