Biado savors ultimate prize

Carlo Biado considers his victory in the World 9-Ball Championship as his ultimate reward after a career filled with promise and hardships.

The 34-year-old Biado became the fifth Filipino to win the prestigious tournament Thursday when he beat compatriot Roland Garcia, 13-5, in Doha, Qatar for his first-ever world title while completing a 2017 trifecta following triumphs in the World Games and Southeast Asian Games.

“It’s been a long time. I worked very hard, had many disappointments. And now finally I won the world title,” Biado said as quoted by the World Pool-Billiard Association’s official press release.

His victory came after falling short in past world championships. Biado lost in the semifinals of the 2013 World 9-Ball edition and fell 11-9 to Taiwan's Ko Pin Yi in the final of the 2015 World 10-Ball Championship.

Biado won all nine games on his way to claiming the top purse of $40,000 (P2.02 million). During the week-long tournament, the former golf caddy played in top form while getting some help from Lady Luck to emerge victorious.

He posted two victories in the double-elimination preliminaries and won four in the first two days of the knockout stage, including a walkover victory over China’s Liu Haitao in the quarterfinals.

Biado won by default after Liu, who took some rest at his hotel room shortly after playing in the round of 16, arrived 15 minutes after the scheduled start of their match.

—JONAS TERRADO