Chua outduels Biado for SEA Games billiards gold
MA N I L A – J o h a n n Chua pulled off a stunner against fellow Filipino Carlo Biado, 9-7, to annex the men’s 9-ball pool singles in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday at the Ha Dong Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The 29-year-old Chua took advantage of a miscue by Biado to surge ahead at 7-5 and from there just rolled on with the alternate break format working in his favor.
Biado had an opportunity to tie the score in the final rack after a series of good shots. But a miss on the eight-ball allowed Chua to finish the game and capture his first SEA Games gold.
“Sobra ang kaba ko. First time ko lumaban sa finals dito sa SEA Games. Hindi ako maka- get over. Iba talaga pag flag and country,” said Chua. “Sobra ang nginig ng kamay ko. Pero gustong-gusto ko makuha ‘yung gold.”
This was the second gold medal of the Philippines in billiards. Filipina Rubilen Amit ruled the 9-ball pool singles on Tuesday night. She defeated
Singapore’s Jessica Tan in the finals, 7-2.
Veteran cue master Efren “Bata” Reyes settled for a bronze medal finish in the men’s 1-cushion carom after absorbing a 100- 55 defeat to Vietnam’s Tran Thanh Tan Nguyen in the semifinals.
Jefrey Roda bagged the silver in men’s snooker 6-red singles, while Francisco dela Cruz clinched the bronze medal in the same event after losing his semifinals game.
The women’s recurve team of Pia Elizabeth Bidaure, Gabrielle Monica Bidaure and Phoebe Nicole Amistoso notched a gold medal after stunning Vietnam, 5-4.
Kurt Barbosa, meanwhile, successfully retained his men’s -54 kyorugi gold medal with a huge 16- 7 win over Thailand’s Panachai Jaijulla on Tuesday evening.
The team of Samantha Catantan, Maxine Esteban, Wilhelmina Lozada, and Justine Gail Tinio fell short of the gold in women’s foil team event after bowing to
Robert Lopez Mendy, Jhan Melliza and Audie Menzi but did not produced a goal.
Kaya- Iloilo had a close chance to break the scoreless draw early in the second half but Melliza misfired a Mendy pass. Stallion also had opportunities but was always thwarted by the defense.
T h e I l o n g g o s f i n a l l y entered the scoring column at the 85th minute. Horikoshi
took advantage on a lapse on Stallion-Laguna’s defense to hit it into the back of the net.
S t a l l i on- Laguna s t i l l made its last push to force an extension period but all of its goal attempts down the stretch were all cleared by Kaya-Iloilo’s defense.
United City FC, the 2019 Copa Paulino Alcantara champions, also made a return trip to the championship round by scoring a 1- 0 beating of Dynamic Herb Cebu.
After a scoreless opening half, United City FC surged ahead at the 60th minute mark as Simen Lyngbo scored on a header from an inbound pass by a teammate.
Dynamic Herb Cebu, the No. 2 ranked team after the elimination, had multiple opportunities late in the semifinals game to equalize but could not found a decent attempt.
The championship match between Kaya-Iloilo and United City is expected to be a tight one after they ended their elims game at 1- 1 via exchange of goals by Horikoshi and United City’s Mike Ott./