All news tagged Billiards

Carlo "THE BLACK TIGER" Biado is a Filipino professional pool player. His highest-profile wins include the World Nine-ball Championship and the World Ten-ball Championship in 2017 and 2024.

He started playing pool at age 13 and worked as a caddie at the Villamor Air Base golf course while still a student.

Biado became a professional pool player in 2004 but failed to win any major world title in his first ten years.

In 2015, he reached the final of the WPA World Ten-ball Championship, defeating David Alcaide and Nikos Ekonomopoulos in the knockout rounds.

In 2017, Biado defeated Jayson Shaw of the UK, 11–7, to win the men's 9-ball event at the World Games. In 2019, he also reached the final of the WPA Players Championship, narrowly losing to Kevin Cheng, 12–11.

In 2021, Biado defeated Aloysius Yapp, 13–8, to win the U.S. Open Pool Championship. With the win, he joined Alex Pagulayan and Efren Reyes as one of the few Filipino players to have won the prestigious tournament.

He went on to defeat fellow Filipino cue artist Johann Chua, 9–3, to win the men's Ten-ball singles gold medal at the 31st Southeast Asian Games held at the Ha Dong Gymnasium in Vietnam.

In 2022, the trio of Johann Chua, Carlo Biado, and Rubilen Amit triumphed in the WPA World Teams Championship, sweeping Great Britain—composed of Jayson Shaw, Kelly Fisher, and Darren Appleton—3–0 in the final held in Klagenfurt, Austria.

With the win, they delivered the Philippines its first world team ten-ball title after runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2014, the last time the tournament was held before being revived in 2022.

Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit began playing billiards during her teens, but her first sport was basketball until she turned 12. At that age, her classmates started to focus on other activities, so her father took the opportunity to introduce her to billiards.

At first, she enjoyed playing with her cousins. But her father, Bobby, saw her potential and would incentivize her with prizes, such as shirts and pants, for winning each competition, until she often tagged along with her father at the Super Bowl in Makati.

She stopped competing for a while to obtain a college degree in accountancy at the University of Santo Tomas. Eventually, she returned to 9-ball and won 10 gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games.

With her family’s encouragement, she was able to hone her keen eye and sensibilities. At the same time, she maintained composure under pressure, allowing her strategies to dismantle those of her opponents.

Efren “Bata” Reyes is a legendary figure, known as “The Magician” in the world of pool or billiards. He is a Filipino professional pool player who has won many world championships in two different pool disciplines.

He was a four-time World Eight-Ball Champion, the 1999 WPA World Nine-Ball Championship winner, a three-time U.S. Open winner, a two-time World Pool League Champion, a four-time All Japan Championship winner, a seven-time Asian Nine-Ball Tour Champion, and a thirteen-time Derby City Classic winner.

Reyes is also a four-time World Eight-Ball Champion, the 1999 WPA World Nine-Ball Championship winner, a three-time U.S. Open winner, a two-time World Pool League Champion, a four-time All Japan Championship winner, a seven-time Asian Nine-Ball Tour Champion, and a thirteen-time Derby City Classic winner.

In 2006 and 2009, Reyes represented the country with his partner Francisco Bustamante at the World Cup of Pool and won the event.

Three-time World Champion Pinay cue artist Rubilen Amit is set to be honored at the 2024 San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night, to be held on January 27 at the Centennial Hall of Manila Hotel.

The Philippines became even more recognized in the world of billiards in 2024 when 43-year-old Amit claimed the prestigious WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Championship held in New Zealand last September 2024.

Amit was the first Filipina pool player to become a global 9-ball champion where in 2007, she finished as a runner-up and made it to the semifinals in 2018 and 2019. With her 3-1 win over Chen Siming of China, she took the elusive crown for herself. Amit displayed her strategic thinking best during the crucial seventh game. 

She also won the WPA Women’s 10-Ball Championships two times, way back in 2009 and 2013. 

She encourages other women to pursue billiards through the Amit Cup she started, where amateur women players can compete in a tournament. 

Amit hopes that future generations of Filipinas will take up the mantle and prove that women are just as capable of excelling in this sport.