By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Reigning world pool champion Carlo Biado, Johann Chua and Bernie Regalario downed their respective third-round opponents to advance to the Last 64 knockout stage of the 2025 Florida Open Pool Championship at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Biado continued flexing his might by dumping fellow Filipino Roland Garcia, 9-4, while Chua and Regalario dug deep and survived Norway’s Emil Gangflot and Canada’s John Morra, respectively, with identical 9-8 scores.
Eight more Filipinos are still battling for spots in the next stage that include Lee Vann Cortez and Marvin Asis, who are playing Finland’s Arseni Sevastyanov and Scotland’s Jayson Shaw at press time.
Garcia, meanwhile, was relegated to the loser’s bracket along with Jefrey Roda, Patric Gonzales and Michael Baoanan, who also lost their third-round matches.
Roda absorbed a tough 9-8 defeat at the hands of Greece’s Dimitris Loukatos; Gonzales bowed to Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang, 9-3; and Baoanan yielded to Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, 9-5.
Roda
Harry Vergara, Roberto Gomez and Miguel Salvilla are also fighting for spots in the loser’s bracket after their earlier losses.
The tournament, which started with a 256-player field, offers a total prize fund of $200,000 (around P11.4 million) with the champion pocketing $40,000 (around P2.2 million).
