By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlo Biado kept his bid for a second World Pool Championship title alive with a pair of thrilling wins, feats matched by six other equally determined Filipinos as they advanced to the Last 16 on Thursday, July 24, at the Green Halls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The 41-year-old Biado, the last Filipino to win the title in 2017, first edged England’s Chris Melling, 11–9, before outlasting Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski, 11–8, on a day that also saw mixed results from other PH campaigners in the oil-rich nation.
Among those who kissed their title campaigns goodbye was last year’s semifinalist Johann Chua, who absorbed an 11-6 beating from fellow Filipino Anton Raga in the Last 32.
Raga’s win over Chua was a fitting sequel to an 11-3 drubbing of local bet Fahad Aldhayan, 11-3.
Biado’s victory, however, set him up an all-Filipino duel with last year’s quarterfinalist Jeffrey Ignacio, who first survived a hill-hill battle with Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, 11-10, before dumping Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski, 11-7.
Ignacio’s victory over Fortunski proved very sweet as he avenged the heartbreaking 10-11 defeat of rising star AJ Manas to Fortunski.
Also arranging an all-Filipino fight are Patrick Gonzales and Bernie Regalario.
Gonzales first routed Germany’s Tobias Bongers, 11-6, before eliminating two-time world 10-ball champion Eklent Kaci of Albania, 11-6, while Regalario downed Greece’s Dimitris Loukatos, 11-7, and Hong Kong’s Lo Ho Sum.
James Aranas, winner of the World Cup of Pool with Chua, also advanced to the pivotal stage with identical 11-4 victories over the fancied Spaniard David Alcaide and Denmark’s Mickey Krause, while Jefrey Roda also joined the crew with contrasting wins over Chinese Taipei’s Fu Che Wei, 11-4, and Scottish veteran Jayson Shaw, 11-9.
Marvin Asis and Michael Feliciano reached the Last 32 but lost to Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang (11-6) and Albania’s Kledio Kaci (11-7), respectively, while Roland Garcia in the Last 64 at the expense of Italy’s Oliver Sznolnoki, 11-8.
