RAISING their level of play a notch higher, the Pinoy trio of Rubilen Amit, Carlo Biado and Johann Chua shut out the crack British squad 3-0 early yesterday morning (Sunday night in Europe) to bag the Predator World 10-Ball Teams Championship in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Amit got the ball rolling in the race-to-three series, nipping World Games women’s 9-ball champion Kelly Fisher 4-3 in the women’s singles, after which Biado, the reigning US Pool titlist, scored a similar 4-3 nailbiter over veteran Scot Jayson Shaw.
With their morale and adrenaline running high, Chua, the 31st SEA Games men’s nine-ball gold medalist, and Amit capped the convincing triumph by outplaying the duo of Darren Appleton, a world 9-ball and 10-ball champion, and Fisher 3-0 in the mixed doubles.
The victory comes a day after Alex Eala made history in the US Open juniors’ tournament, bagging the girls’ title with a masterful 6-2, 6-4 conquest of Czech Lucie Havlickova in the title match.
The Filipinos had a more difficult time in the semifinals, subduing the German squad of siblings Pia and Joshua Filler and two-time world 9-ball champ Thorsten Hohmann in a 3-2 thriller, while the British beat the Taiwanese 3-1 to advance to the title match.
Amit and Biado gave the national squad an early 2-0 lead by beating Filler and Hohmann by the same scores of 4-2.
But the Filler siblings kept their bid alive by blanking Chua and Amit 4-0 in the mixed doubles before Joshua Filler deadlocked the score at 2-all by routing Chua 4-0 in the extra men’s singles.
The Filipinos showed grit when it mattered most, with Biado, a 30th SEA Games doubled gold medalist, sealing the deal by calmly sinking the 10-ball in the right corner picket during the shootout that spelled the difference.
“It feels amazing to be champions,” said Amit during the post-match press conference. “We’re, we’re very, very happy, and very relieved. Finally, no more matches, we can rest and just enjoy it and enjoy Austria and Klagenfurt!
“Last time we placed second and now we are finally the champions. I am very happy that I have Johann and Carlo as my teammates because they are awesome, they are very good players,” she added.
Amit and Biado played with the national team that took the silver medal in the 2014 edition in China.
“Finally, we made it. My job was to win in this event and with my team, and I want to thank them because we all played well. We have to celebrate now!” exclaimed Biado.
They will bring home a big chunk of the total pot of 136,000 euros (roughly P7.8 million) up for grabs.
“I am so happy and so proud,” said Chua. “It is my first medal from a World Championship, and I am so thankful and so happy to make it with this team. We knew our opponents are really tough, but we came here to enjoy it.”
