Biado, Roda gives Philippine cue artists optimistic start in SEA Games

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines' Carlo Biado and Jefrey Roda secured their quarterfinal slots as they defeated Malaysia and Vietnam in their respective Billiar events in the 31st Southeast Asian Games Saturday at the Ha Dong Gymnasium.

Reigning US Open Champion Biado faced Malaysia's Darryl Chia in the opening match of the Men's 9-Ball Pool Singles. 

Biado gained a comfortable 4-1 lead, easily taking racks four and five away from Chia but a few bad breaks from the Filipino and a couple of miscalculations — the heaviest of which was in rack 12 when he failed to pocket the 7th ball, and gave Malaysia the chance to catch-up and close the gap to 8-7.

Rack 16 saw a calm and methodical Biado, planning every shot and eventually sealing victory, 9-7 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Roda, the Snooker bronze medalist in 2019, opened the Men's Snooker 6-Red Singles against Nguyen Pham Hoia who enjoyed home court advantage with spectators cheering him on. 

Roda kept a cool head and managed to clinch victory in the tightly contested match, 5-4 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Their teammates Johann Chua Gonzales and Alvin Barbero Ambatali will see action in the Men's 9-Ball Pool Singles and Men's Snooker 6-Red Singles, respectively while Rubilen Amit and Chezka Centeno hope to repeat their 1-2 finish as they competed in the Women's 9 Pool Singles on Sunday.