By JONAS TERRADO
Carlo Biado leads a large Filipino contingent seeking to end the country’s drought in the World 9-Ball Championship which started last night in Doha, Qatar.
Biado will be joined by Warren Kiamco, Francisco Felicilda, Jonathan Chua, Jeff de Luna, Jeffrey Ignacio, Roland Garcia, Israel Rota and Alex Pagulayan in their bid to become the first Filipino to win the event since Francisco “Django” Bustamante in 2010.
The 34-year-old Biado hopes to finally end his world title drought and end the year on a high note after ruling the World Games men’s 9-ball tourney and capturing the men’s 9-ball gold in the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games.
He opened his title bid last night against Xu Xiao Cong in the first match of the tournament composed of 128 players and using a double-elimination format. Thirty-two players will advance to the knockout stage.
Pagulayan is the only Filipino which previously won the event to compete in this year’s edition, though the 2004 champion will once again represent Canada.