Biado, Gomez gain 8-ball KO stage

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning National Open champion Carlo Biado defeated Francisco Diaz-Pizarro of Spain, 7-2, while Roberto Gomez crushed Luke Rollinson of Great Britain, 7-3, to advance to the knockout stage of the World 8-ball championship in Fujairah, UAE yesterday.

Raymund Faraon also breezed through by posting a 7-1 rout of Ahmed Al Hosani of UAE and a 7-4 win over Nick Van den Berth of The Netherlands, while Demosthenes Pulpul edged Albin Ouschan of Austria, 7-6, in a do-or-die match to stay in the hunt.

Elmer Haya held off Yousfi Chaouki of MAR, 7-5, while Elvis Calasang thwarted Al Howri Hanni of UAE, 7-5.

Nine Filipinos, headed by defending champion Dennis Orcollo, made it to the Last 64.

Also making it to the single-round, race-to-11 knockout phase are Lee Vann Corteza and Joven Alba.

The winner will receive $20,000.

Orcollo duels with Nasser Al Mujaibel of Kuwait; Corteza squares off with Lee Chenman of Hong Kong; Alba battles Ahmad Jallad of Jordan; Biado collides with Haya; Gomez tangles with Mario He of Austria; Pulpul takes on Hwang of Korea, Faraon mixes it up with Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan and Calasang tests Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama’s mettle.