Cue artist Carlo Biado struck the first gold medal for the Philippines in the history of the World Games.
The 33-year-old ruled the 9-ball men’s pool finals Saturday at the expense of Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw, 11-7, in the ongoing quadrennial World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.
Biado, runner up in the 2015 WPA 10-Ball World Championship, pocketed his biggest achievement yet after giving the country something to be proud of in the prestigious global competition of non-Olympic sports.
He overshadowed the feat of Dennis Orcollo, who brought home the first medal from the Games by ending up with the bronze in men’s 9-ball during the 2014 edition in Cali, Columbia.
In the semifinals, Biado downed Japan’s Oi Naoyuki, 11-7, to arrange the finale with Shaw, an 11-6 winner over Taipei’s Ko Pin-Yi in the other semis pairing.
While Orcollo celebrated the achievement, Chezka Centeno tumbled out of the medal podium following a 9-3 defeat at the hands of China’s Han Yu during their playoff for the bronze.
The 18-year-old from Zamboanga City who won the women’s 9-ball gold in the 2015 World Games held in Shanghai, China dropped a 6-9 decision to China’s Chen Siming earlier in the semifinals.
Biado, who briefly ranked No.1 in the world two years ago, and the seventh-ranked Centeno formed part of the eight players from Asia who made it to the world games based on their world rankings.
Both of them are the hot favorites to retain their 9-ball pool titles as the 11-man national billiard squad competes in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 19-30.