| Carlo Biado | |
| Birth Date: | 31 October 1983 |
| Birth Place: | Philippines |
| Nickname: | "The Black Tiger" |
| Game: | Nine-ball, ten-ball, eight-ball, one-pocket |
| Major Wins: | U.S. Open (2022) |
| Highest Ranking: | 1 |
| World Champ: | Nine-ball (2017), Ten-ball (2024) |
Carlo Biado (born October 31, 1983) 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 respectively.
Biado has roots in Rosario, La Union[1] [2] and/or Nueva Ecija.[3] He started playing pool when he was age 13 and worked as a caddie at the Villamor Air Base golf course while he was still a student. After work he would play billiards in the evening. He stopped pursuing high school education when he was on his first year and the sport serves as a means of livelihood. He earned money from bets in the billiards place he helps manage.[2] [4]
Biado became a professional pool player in 2004 but failed to win any major world title within his first ten years.[1] In 2015, Biado reached the final of the WPA World Ten-ball Championship, defeating David Alcaide and Nikos Ekonomopoulos in the knockout rounds. Biado would eventually lose the final to Taiwan's Ko Pin-yi 9–11.[5]
In 2017, Biado defeated Jayson Shaw of the UK, 11–7, to win the men's 9-ball event of the 2017 World Games.[6]
Also in 2017, Biado defeated countryman Roland Garcia, 13–5, to win the 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Championship.[7] The following year, Biado would also reach the final of the 2018 event, however, would lose 10–13 to Joshua Filler.[8] [9]
Biado reached the final of the 2019 WPA Players Championship, losing to Kevin Cheng 12–11.[10]
A month after, Biado and De Luna booked a spot in the final of 2019 World Cup of Pool by beating the Netherlands duo of Neils Feijen and Marc Bijsterbosch, 9–6 in the semi-final but eventually fell short in the finals against Austria, yielding an 11–3 decision.[11]
The tandem of Carlo Biado and Jeff de Luna was unable to clinch the country's fourth title against the team of Mario He and Albin Ouschan which bagged their second title in their third consecutive finals appearance.[12]
In 2021, Biado defeated Aloysius Yapp, 13–8, to win the U.S. Open Pool Championship. With the win, Biado became one of the few Filipino players to win the tournament along with Alex Pagulayan and Efren Reyes.[13]
Also in 2021, Biado defeated fellow filipino cue artist Johann Chua, 9–3, to win the men's Ten-ball singles gold medal in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at Ha Dong Gymnasium in Vietnam.
Interestingly, Chua took the gold in the Nine-ball singles event after pouncing on uncharacteristic errors of Biado too.
This is the third gold of Biado in the SEA Games on top of his three silver and two bronze medals.[14]
In 2022, the trio of Johann Chua, Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit emerged triumphant in the 2022 WPA World Teams Championship after sweeping Great Britain of Jayson Shaw, Kelly Fisher and Darren Appleton, 3–0, in the final in Klagenfurt, Austria.
With the win, they gave 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 it was revived in 2022.
On the road to the finals, team Philippines conquered team Poland, 3–1, in the quarterfinals then outlasted team Germany in the semis, 3–2, in a shootout battle.[15] [16]
In 2024, Biado got off to a strong start as he snapped his first World Nineball Tour[17] ranking event title of the year after taking down young star Bernie Regalario, 13–7, to win the 2nd Universal Chinese Taipei Open in an all-Filipino final championship match held at the Hulks Billiard Hall in Taipei City, Taiwan. Despite losing his first match, Biado had to claw his way back from the losers bracket to go 8–1 in the 96-player field tournament.[18] [19]
Also in 2024, Biado defeated Naoyuki Ōi of Japan 4–1, 3–4, 4–2, and 4–1 to win the WPA World Ten-ball Championship held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.[20] [21]
With the championship, Biado took home the top prize of $75,000 (P4.2m). Biado also reached the final of the Las Vegas Open a week prior, but was defeated by fellow countryman Lee Vann Corteza.[22]