Carlo Biado staged a tremendous comeback to edge past Philippines phenom Albert Manas in a hill-hill thriller and reach the Filipino-dominated last 16 at the Hanoi Open Pool Championship in Vietnam.
Six Filipino players earned their places in the last 16 at the Hanoi Indoor Gymnasium in the Vietnamese capital, on a day which saw world number one Fedor Gorst concede his last 64 match with James Aranas due to health reasons.
Biado battled back from 8-5 behind against the reigning Hanoi Junior Open champion, claiming four racks in succession to get onto the hill first at 9-8, only to miss a match-winning nine ball as Manas forced a deciding rack.
Manas obtained the ascendancy following a safety battle in the all-important rack and later executed a terrific safety shot on the six ball, which created an opportunity for him to prevail. However, the teenager missed an ambitious long pot on the six ball and Biado advanced.
Biado will encounter fellow former US Open champion Ko Ping-Chung in a mouth-watering last 16 contest after the Taiwanese sensation made light work of Michael Baoanan and Shane Wolford.
Reyes Cup star Biado will be accompanied by World Cup of Pool champions Johann Chua and Aranas, Jeffrey Ignacio, Jefrey Roda and qualifier Harry Vergara in the last 16, with Ignacio also coming through a hill-hill battle against compatriot Jerson Cumayas.
Vergara, who needed to come through the qualifiers last weekend, earned a last 16 showdown with Shane van Boening, winning five racks on the bounce to beat Imran Majid 10-5 prior to a hard-fought 10-8 victory over Spain’s Jonas Souto Comino.
Van Boening breezed into the penultimate day with a resounding 10-2 victory over Italy’s Francesco Candela, having fought back from 9-6 down to beat Mickey Krause in a hill-hill affair, with the European Open champion missing the five ball in the decider with the victory in sight.
Reigning champion Jayson Shaw fended off an impressive comeback from American youngster Landon Hollingsworth, fluking the nine ball to emerge a 10-8 winner after having held a four-rack lead, before sweeping aside China’s Wang Ming to continue his defence.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz survived a scare in the last 64 as he battled back from behind against Raymund Faraon before beating Kuo Po-Cheng, while his Spanish countryman David Alcaide dropped only five racks in brushing aside both Nguyen Duc Thang and Dean Shields.
Shields silenced Hanoi earlier in the day as he dumped out Vietnamese number one Duong Quoc Hoang. Despite three golden breaks from Duong and the venue shaking each time he sunk a nine ball, the Brit held his nerve to complete the biggest victory of his career.
World number two Eklent Kaci may have failed to qualify for single elimination, although his younger brother Kledio continues to carry the Kaci mantle. The Albanian teenager pulled off an impressive 10-8 win over UK Open winner Robbie Capito to reach the last 16 of a WNT open championship for the second time.
Indonesia will be well represented into the penultimate day as both Edward Koyongian and Andri Januarta reached the last 16 on debut. Ho Chi Minh City Open quarter-finalist Koyongian overcame Roland Garcia prior to ending Vietnamese hopes as he beat Nguyen Van Huynh, while Januarta came through a tense hill-hill affair against Georgi Georgiev.
Despite Gorst’s health concerns as well as the shocks and surprises early in the tournament, eight of the world’s top 16 players remain in contention and numerous stories continue to unfold in Hanoi.
