Carlo Biado shrugged off a shaky start and defeated compatriot AJ Manas in their hill-hill round-of-32 showdown, 10-9, to secure his ticket in the Last 16 of the Hanoi 9-Ball Open Pool Championship in Vietnam Friday, Oct. 11.

Biado redeemed himself after a crucial miss of No. 9 ball in the 18th rack which could have sealed the game early and was able to avert the same mistake again over his younger rival in the 19th to get closer to the $30,000 (P1.7 million) grand winner’s purse.

With his triumph, Biado sets up a meeting with a familiar foe in 2023 US Open champion Taiwanese Ko Ping Chung in final 16. 

The WPA 10-Ball and Ho Chi Minh 9-Ball king also dismantled Albania’s Besar Spahiu (10-2) in round of 64, Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chih-yung (9-4), Sun Yi Hsuan (9-6), and Spain’s Salvador Garcia (9-2) in the opening part of the 256-player tournament.

Biado struggled early on as the 16-year-old Manas, who made waves after beating Euro Open champion Danish Mickey Krause, 9-8, in the first round, dictated the tempo immediately and took the first three racks.

However, Biado, a SEA Games multi-medalist, remained calm and collected as he gradually climbed back to level the score at 3-3.

While Manas recovered well and grabbed an 8-5 lead, Biado retaliated and slowly crawled back for a hard-earned win.

Meanwhile, James Aranas earned a round-of-64 bye as American Fedor Gorst was feeling under the weather.

Aranas followed his winning ways with a 10-8 beating of Taiwanese Chang Yu-Lung that arranged him a final 16 bout with Albania’s Kledio Kaci.