3 Pinoy cue artists advance to Final 16 in US Open 9-Ball Championship

Sports

ON A day that several Filipino bets fell by the wayside, Johann Chua, Michael Baoanan, and Jefrey Roda held their ground and stayed in contention in the 2025 US Open Pool 9-Ball Championship.

Chua, Baoanan, and Rode prevailed over separate opponents to advance to the Last 16 on Friday (Philippine time), August 22, at the Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City.

Chua went through anxious moments before edging Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann (10-9) in the Round 64. Chua, the recent Battle of the Bull winner, sustained the momentum and took out Greece’s Alexander Kazakis, 10-6, in Round of 32.

Chua will next face Serbia’s Aleksa Pecelj as he bidd to advance to the quarterfinals in the tournament that offers a champion's purse of $100,000 (around P5.7 million).

Baoanan arranged a Final 16 duel with Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang after beating American Tyler Styer, 10-4, in Round of 64 and Venezuelan Jesús Atencio, 10-9, in Round of 32.

Roda defeated Hungary’s Oliver Szolnoki, 10-8, and New Zealand’s Sullivan Clark, 10-5, in Rounds of 64 and 32, respectively, to force a Last 16 encounter with former world champion Aloysius Yapp of Singapore

Several Filipino cue artists were unlucky, including the country’s top bet, two-time World Pool Championship titlist Carlo Biado, who lost badly to Estonian Denis Grabe, 3-10, in Round of 64.

Biado had racked up three straight wins before faltering against Grabe.

Also losing in Round of 64 were Harry Vergara, Roberto Gomez, Bernie Regalario, Lee Vann Corteza, and Marvin Asis.

Another Filipino bet, Baseth Mocaibat, lost in Final 32.(CCM)