Carlo Biado bowed to Francisco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain, 11-10, in the semifinals to lose his US Open 9-Ball Championship title a little past midnight on Sunday (Manila time) in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The 38-year-old Biado, a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, tried to wage a late rally as he tried to recover from a 2-7 deficit to forge a heart-stopping 10-all score and set the stage for the very crucial rack.
But Biado's recovery was not enough as the 30-year-old Spaniard, the reigning World Cup of Pool champion, took advantage of the Filipino's dry breaks while using his vast snooker experience in cueing and securing safety shots down the stretch to secure the victory.
Sanchez Ruiz then outdueled Max Lechner of Austria in the finals, 13-11, to bag the crown and pocket the $50,000 cash prize. He is the first Spaniard to win this prestigious title.
Biado, for his part, settled for the bronze medal and a pot money of $13,500 — or around P796,000.
"I fell short," Biado said in his YouTube channel.
"I had a bad start but I still worked hard to fight back. But the breaks didn't go my way as I failed to have an open break."
"In fact, I overcut the 2-ball, which wasn't safe. But that's it, that's part of the game."
With the setback, the World 10-ball champion from Nueva Ecija sets his sights on bigger tournaments — the US International from 30 October to 5 November in Virginia, the Predator World 8-Ball Open in Puerto Rico from 14 to 20 November, and the World 8-Ball Open also in Puerto Rico from 18 to 20 November.