Carlo Biado outlasts Japanese cue artist for first WPA 10-ball crown

Carlo Biado clinched the 2024 Predator WPA Men's World 10-Ball Championship title to add another trophy to his already full cabinet.

The Filipino cue artist ousted Japan's Naoyuki Oi in four sets, 4-1, 3-4, 4-2, 4-1, to claim his first-ever WPA-sanctioned 10-ball championship on Saturday, March 2 (Sunday, March 3, Manila time), at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In his personal YouTube account, Biado shared how proud he was after winning the event.

"It's overwhelming. I'm very happy that I won this match. I finally got the world 10-ball championship," Biado said after the championship round. "When I heard that national anthem, it felt like [shedding] tears of joy. I finally won the championship."

Biado will also bring home the grand prize of $75,000 (more than P4.2 million).

In 2015, the three-time Southeast Asian Games champion nearly won the same tournament but Chinese Taipei's Kon Pin-yi denied him.

Nine years later, he was given another shot for the elusive 10-ball supremacy.

This time, Biado ensured it won't slip from his hand amid being the only Philippine representative in the competition, featuring the 64 ranked players of the World Pool-Billiard Association – the sport's international governing body.

He began his campaign by edging Australia's Justin Sajich, the United States' Shane Van Boening, and Chinese Taipei's Lin Wu Ku to reach the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinal round, Biado overcame a tough opposition in Taiwanese Ko-Ping Chun, 3-2, before eliminating Russia's Fedor Gorst from contention in the semifinals, 3-1.

Biado, alongside Johann Chua and Rubilen Amit, gave the Philippines its first team title after ruling the 2022 WPA World Mixed Teams 10-Ball Championship. He also topped the 2021 US Open 9-Ball and the 2017 WPA World 9-Ball Championship.