Filipino cuemasters inch closer to US Open Last 64

Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Lee Van Corteza, and three other Filipino cuemasters moved one win away from the knockout of the US Open 9-Ball Championships held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Biado, who dominated the tournament in 2021, had a first round bye, before making an easy work of American Robert Hart, 9-1. He is set to compete with Great Britain’s Chris Melling for an automatic spot in the 64-man knockout round. 

Chua kept the form that earned him a runner-up finish in last week’s European Open by trouncing Vietnamese Dang Than Kien, 9-1, in the second round of the eliminations after his own opening round bye. He will next play against Liu Ri Teng of Chinese Taipei.

Corteza, a runner-up in the 2013 US Open, overcame American Mike Dechaine (9-7) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang (9-4) for a third round match against Japanese Naoyuki Oi. 

Other Filipinos who will vie for the slot in the knockout round are Jeffrey Roda, Jeffrey Ignacio and Michael Baoanan. 

Roda was equally impressive with big wins over Elias Patrkios, 9-1, and Englishman Darren Appleton, 9-2, to challenge former world No. 1 Joshua Filler of Germany.

Ignacio faces Alexander Kazakis of Greece, while Boanan will meet Italian Francesco Candelo with their bids of entering the last 64.

Eight more Filipinos led by Bernie Regalario and Ronald Garcia, on the other hand, are in the Losers Bracket where they need to win two more matches to advance.

The US Open Championship will feature a 256-player field on the World Nineball Tour. The tournament will begin with a seeded double elimination format, featuring the top 128 World Nineball Tour players. From there, only 64 players will advance to the single elimination rounds.