By MARK REY MONTEJO
Johann Chua and Carlo Biado breezed past their separate rivals and advanced to the final 64 of the 2024 US 9-Ball Open Championship at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey Thursday, Aug 22 (Manila Time).
Chua unleashed his inner beast and mauled Chinese Taipe’s Liu Ri Teng, 9-1, to arrange a race-to-10 clash with Japan’s Naoyuki Oi in Round of 64 of the six-day competition that offers a handsome prize pool of $300,000 or around P16 million.
Before entering the knockout stage, Chua took an early bye then humbled Vietnamese Dang Thanh Kien (9-1).
The pride of Bacolod City is eyeing for a coveted title this year after going short multiple times in his previous campaigns including his runner-up honor in Euro Open after yielding to Denmark’s Mickey Krause, 23-8.
Krause likewise marched on to the crucial stage.
Meanwhile, Biado, a SEAG multi-medalist, stumbled to UK’s Chris Melling (7-9) but regained his bearings over Venezuela’s Jerry Arvelaez (9-1) to punch his ticket in the single elimination round.
Looking to win his second US Open title, Biado received an early bye and destroyed American Robert Hart (9-1) in the second round of the US-dominated tournament which had been conquered by the Filipinos thrice – in the likes of Efren “Bata” Reyes (1994), Fil-Canadian Alex Pagulayan (2005), and Biado (2021) – since it inaugural iteration in 1976.
Also advancing are Lee Vann Corteza, Michael Baoanan, Jeffrey Ignacio, Jefrey Roda, Marvin Asis, Michael Feliciano, and Bernie Regalario.
Unfortunately, Patric Gonzales, Roberto Gomez, Roland Garcia and Anton Raga (NS) were booted out of the tourney.
The Philippines is tied with the United States (9) for the most number of players in the knockout stage followed by Chinese Taipei (6), the Netherlands (4) and the United Kingdom (4).
