Johann Chua and Carlo Biado stumbled in their respective Round of 64 assignments to bow out of contention in the 2025 European Open Pool Championships at the Hills Hotel Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, March 14.

Chua came up short in his bid to eclipse his runner-up finish last year and yielded to Indonesian Edward Koyongian, 10-6, while Biado came close to edging Tobias Bongers of Germany, only to fumble in the pivotal stretch and absorb a 10-9 loss.

A victory for both Chua and Biado could have set them up a Round of 32 meeting with Dutch players Marc Bijsterbosch and Yannick Pongers, respectively.

Bongers eventually reached the Round of 16 being played at press time where Koyongian lost to Bijsterbosch, 10-6.

Among the notable players still in title contention in this $200,000 event are Spaniard Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, Germany’s Joshua Filler and Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw.