By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlo Biado inched closer to retaining his US Open 9-Ball Championship title after advancing to the Last 16 Thursday, Oct. 13 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Biado first crushed Finland’s Petri Makkonen, 9-4, and then thumped Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, 9-6, to move into the race-to-10 knockout stage that also saw Lee Van Corteza and Roland Garcia earning berths.
Biado came into the tournament fully motivated after he, Rubilen Amit, and Johann Chua made history in securing the Predator World 10-Ball Teams Championship in Klangenfurt, Austria with a 3-0 shutout of a crack British squad.
He showed his sheer determination by advancing to the Last 64 from the losers’ bracket that if he will go all the way again that will add color to his accomplishment.
Corteza walloped United Kingdom’s Jayson Shaw, 9-2, before nipping former world champion Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei, 9-4, while Garcia bested Venezuela’s Jesus Atencio, 9-4, and Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk, 9-6.
Biado’s victory set him up a meeting with Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn, while Corteza and Garcia collide with United Kingdom’s Chris Melling and Austria’s Max Lechner.
Not fortunate enough were Chua and Roberto Gomez who were both eliminated in the Round of 64, with Chua bowing to Albania’s Eklent Kaci, 9-7, and Gomez yielding to Chinese Taipei’s Wu Kun Lin, 9-3.
