Carlo Biado: From grass carpet to the velvet table
Carlo Biado let out a loud scream the moment he confirmed his victory in the 2017 World 9-Ball Championship in Doha, Qatar, completing a treble that ascended him from a rising star to perhaps the newest face of Philippine pool.
He had won the 9-ball events of the World Games and Southeast Asian Games earlier in 2017, but beating countryman Roland Garcia in the final ended his long search for a World Championship.
“Bago yun, lagi akong talo, pero sabi ko baka this year (2017) sa akin naman ito. (I always lost, but held hope 2017 was my year),” said Biado, who shared PSA Athlete of the Year honors with two others recently. “Kaya pinaghandaan kong maigi kasi sinabi ko sa sarili bago ako mag-35, magtsa-champion ako. (I vowed to become champion before I turn 35).”
Biado, exactly that age by October, is currently the world's No. 1 player in a sport the Philippines has been known even before Efren “Bata” Reyes became a household name, another accomplishment that seemed unimaginable for the family breadwinner.
The La Union native began playing pool at 13, occasionally playing the game while working as a golf caddie at the Villamor Air Base course. His pay for serving those hitting the links would eventually be surpassed by his earnings in pool.
“Malaking tulong din yung pagiging caddie ko kasi extra kita din. (Being a caddie helped),” he said. “Kasi yung dating pinagtatrabahuhan ko may bilyaran kaya nakakapaglaro din ako. Mas malaki pa ang kita ko sa bilyar kesa sa golf course. (I earned more in golf than in billiards).”
Biado competed in numerous money games around the country, getting huge earnings while slowly seeing his skills improved.
It didn't take long for him to realize that he can also make a mark in the bigger tournaments, thus leading to a shift in focus.
“Nung papagaling na ako, nasa isip ko puro pustahan; di pa ako maka-focus sa tournaments. (My mind was always in betting.)” Biado said. “Sumasali ako sa mga events pero di ako manalo kasi ang focus ko nasa pustahan. (I never win in competitions.)
“Pero mga 2007, medyo nananalo na ako sa mga local tournaments at hanggang sa ma-balance ko at na-focus na ako sa tournaments. (Things changed in 2007).”
It was around 2011 when Biado's name caught the attention of a bigger audience while participating in the World 10-Ball Championship on home soil on the way to capturing the national crown.
Though he would later win his first SEA Games gold in 2015 – teaming up with Warren Kiamco in the men's 9-ball doubles in Singapore – the world championship kept eluding Biado.
He lost to Germany's Thorsten Hohmann in the 2013 World 9-Ball semifinals and fell short against Taiwan's Ko Pin Yi in the final of the 2015 World 10-Ball tournament.
His victories over Scotland's Jayson Shaw in the World Games final and Vietnam's Duong Quoc Hoang for the 2017 SEA Games gold was all the momentum Biado needed to end his search for a world title.
The thirst to win more and to give his family a better life, however, has yet to wane as far as Biado is concerned.
“Gusto ko mabigyan ng magandang buhay ang aking pamilya at manalo pa ng maraming tournaments. (I want to give my family a good life and win more tournaments),” he said.