The trio of Carlo Biado, Rubilen Amit and Johann Chua reasserted their mastery of Great Britain with a dominant 3-0 victory in the final to win the title in the 2022 Predator World Teams 10-ball Championship in Klagenfurt, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 11.
Facing the same team that they defeated through a shootout, 3-2, in the winner’s qualification, the Filipinos made quick work of the British trio of Jayson Shaw, Kelly Fisher, and Darren Appleton to bag the gold medal and the lion’s share of the $138,000 (P7.8 million) prize pool.
Amit came out on top of the women’s singles set, defeating Fisher, 4-3, to score the first point for the Philippines before Biado followed suit with his own 4-3 triumph over Shaw in the men’s single set.
With one set away from claiming the title, Chua and Amit then went on to rout the duo of Fisher and Appleton, 4-1, in the mixed doubles to put on the finishing touches to the Philippine’s unbeaten run in the tournament.
Shaw actually had the chance to take the second set and score the equalizer with only the nine and 10 balls left in the table. With no clear shot on the nine ball, however, he tried to play safe by hiding it behind the 10 ball while placing the cue ball on the other side of the table.
Biado, a US Open Pool champion, easily solved the puzzle, going for the bank shot to drop the nine ball on the lower right pocket which gave PH a commanding 2-0 lead.
The title run for the Philippines didn’t come without a scare as the Filipinos also had to overcome a shootout to dispatch Germany, 3-2, in the semifinals. Up 2-0 after Amit and Biado scored identical 4-2 triumphs over Pia Filler and Thorstenn Hohmann, respectively, the Filipinos suffered a pair of 4-0 defeats in the mixed doubles and in the singles to force the shootout.
Team PH, however, proved to be the steadier crew in the shootout as Hohmann rattled out his attempt while Biado coolly dropped the 10-ball to book a spot to the Finals.