Player: Carlo Biado
Event: U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship
Location: Las Vegas, Nev
Date: Sept. 18, 2021



Two Months ago, this column featured a defensive gem from Carlo Biado that required him to go airborne to get over a blocker and hide the 1 ball from the cue ball. Earlier in that same match, which was the final of the 2021 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, the Filipino champion pulled off another extraordinary shot with the jump cue. But this time, he split the pocket with the 1 instead of playing safe.

Jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the race-to-15, Biado found himself in a difficult position after he traded safeties with Aloysius Yapp. With the cue ball inches off the headrail, Biado had the 4, 6 and 3 balls blocking a direct path to the 1, which was six diamonds down-table. Without a real option to kick at the ball, he had to bring out the jump cue to get at the object ball.

With a controlled stroke, he popped the cue ball over the 4, sending it straight into the 1 on the way down off its second bounce. The yellow ball went screaming into the bottom right corner. The cue ball then clipped the 9 ball, sending it nearly directly toward the right long rail.

The cue ball had a lot of road left to cover, though, as it went down toward the foot rail and then off three more cushions on its way to getting in line with the 3 ball into the other bottom corner.

Biado fell out of shape in the rack and, funny enough, forced himself into another jump shot that he missed. Yapp took the rack, eventually running out to an 8-3 lead. But Biado would not be denied. He knocked off the next 10 racks to take the title, 13-8. The second of two huge comebacks late in the event capped off Biado's run to the Philippines' first U.S. Open title since Efren Reyes won in 1994.


(Video clip provided by Accu-Stats Video Productions.)

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