By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Marvin Asis became the last Filipino standing in the 2025 Florida Open Championships as other Filipinos – reigning world pool champion Carlo Biado included – faltered in their Last 32 matches on Friday, Aug. 8, in Florida.
Asis imposed his might by first clobbering Indonesia’s Albert Januarta, 10-2, before edging Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn, 10-8, to barge into the Last 16 of this $200,000 tournament.
His victory arranged him a next meeting with former world pool champion Shane Van Boening, who displayed his wide experience in toppling Japan’s Masato Yoshioka, 10-1, and Scotland’s Elliot Sanderson, 10-5.
Biado and six others, however, were not fortunate and fell like dominoes.
After overpowering Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura, 10-5, the 41-year-old Biado lost his touch and yielded to last year’s European Open champion Mickey Krause of Denmark, 10-6.
Also losing their Round of 32 matches were 2023 World Cup of Pool champion Johann Chua, who bowed to Spaniard veteran Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, 10-4; and world pool championship semifinalist Bernie Regalario, who lost to Germany’s Moritz Neuhausen.
Making an exit in the Round of 64 earlier were Patric Gonzales, who succumbed to Sanderson, 10-5; Lee Vann Corteza, who bowed to Ruiz, 10-6; Harry Vergara, who absorbed a 10-5 defeat to Regalario; and Roberto Gomez, who got a 10-7 beating from Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp.
The tournament, which offers $40,000 (around P2.2 million) to the champion, serves as a prelude to the 2025 US Open Pool Championship slated on Aug. 18 to 25 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
