By REYNALD MAGALLON
Sunday proved to be glorious day for Philippine sports.
Inspired by Alex Eala’s breakthrough win in the US Open Juniors early in the day, cue artists Carlo Biado, Rubilen Amit and Johann Chua reasserted their mastery of their British counterparts, scoring a dominant 3-0 victory to rule the 2022 Predator World Teams 10-Ball Championship in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Facing the same squad they defeated through a shootout, 3-2, in the winner’s qualification, the Filipinos left nothing to chance as they made quick work of the British trio of Jayson Shaw, Kelly Fisher, and Darren Appleton to bag the gold mint and the lion’s share of the $138,000 (P7.8 million) prize pool.
Amit started off the killing, defeating Fisher, 4-3, before Biado followed suit with his own 4-3 triumph over Shaw in the men’s single set.
With one set away from claiming the title, Chua and Amit then went on to rout the duo of Fisher and Appleton, 4-1 in the mixed doubles to put on the finishing touches to the Philippine’s unbeaten run in the tournament.
Shaw actually had the chance to take the second set and score the equalizer with only the nine and ten balls left in the table. With no clear shot on the nine ball, however, he tried to play safe by hiding it behind the 10 while placing the cue ball on the other side of the table
Biado, a US Open pool champion, easily solved the puzzle, going for the bank shot to drop the nine ball on the lower right pocket and give the Philippines a commanding 2-0 lead enough to unnerve the British crew.
The title run for the Philippines, didn’t come without a scare as the Filipinos also had to overcome Germany, 3-2, via a shootout in the semifinals.
Up 2-0 after Amit and Biado scored identical 4-2 triumphs over Pia Filler and Thorstenn Hohmann respectively, the Filipinos suffered a pair of 4-0 defeats in the mixed doubles and in the singles to force the shootout.
Team PH however proved to be the steadier crew in the shootout as Hohmann rattled out his attempt while Biado coolly dropped the 10-ball to book a spot to the final.
