FOR the first time in eight years, a Filipino is back as a world champion in world nine-ball.
Carlo Biado reclaimed his throne atop the pool kingdom as he captured the World Pool Championship on Sunday morning (Manila time) at the Green Halls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“The Black Tiger” dethroned world No. 1 Fedor Gorst of the United States in a thrilling 15-13 classic championship match to become the first Pinoy to replicate his 2017 triumph and become the first Filipino multiple champion of the event.
READ Biado, Regalario fight over right to advance to World Pool final
“I’m very happy. My opponent is a monster and is tough to beat, but I like this kind of game,” said Biado, who is US$250,000 (around P14 million) richer after ruling one of the most prestigious titles in the sport.
It was also the fifth time that a Filipino cue master will bring home the World Pool Championship trophy after Efren “Bata” Reyes in 1999, Ronnie Alcano in 2006, and Francisco “Django” Bustamante in 2010.
After falling behind 2-0, Biado strung nine straight racks to take a commanding 9-2 lead before Gorst responded with a rally of his own to tie the match.
But Gorst scratched on the three in rack 19 which tilted the momentum back to the Filipino cue master, giving Biado the opening to score four straight racks to gain the 13-9 lead, including a masterful rack 22 where he made an impressive jump on the two to the upper right corner and an amazing bank on the eight to the upper left.
With a chance to go on the hill, Biado scratched on his break as Grost once again fought back, making a 2-9 combination in rack 24 and a break and runout in rack 26 to level the match at 13.
Yet this was Biado’s turn at the spotlight, capitalizing on Gorst’s dry break in rack 27 with a solid 1-6 combination before a runout in rack 28 brought him back in pool’s pinnacle.
This capped off an amazing campaign for Biado who had to deliver a clinic against Pinoy rising star Bernie Regalario, 11-3, in the semifinals earlier in the day.
He also fought Jan Van Lierop of the Netherlands, 9-5, in round one; fellow Filipino Lee Vann Corteza, 9-4, in the winner’s qualification; Chris Meiling of the United Kingdom, 11-9, in the Last 64; Wiktor Zielinski, 11-8, in the Last 32; compatriot Jeffrey Ignacio, 11-9, in the Last 16; and Ko Ping-chung of Chinese Taipei, 11-7, in the quarterfinals.
This also capped off a solid performance for the 17-man Filipino delegation in this year’s edition of the World Pool Championship as Regalario reached the final four, Jefrey Roda got into the quarters; James Aranas, Anton Raga, Patric Gonzales, and Ignacio made it to the Last 16; and Johann Chua, Marvin Asis, and Michael Feliciano going through the Last 32.
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