FRESH from bagging the men's 9-ball pool gold medal Sunday, July 30, (Philippine time) in the World Games in Poland, Filipino Carlo Biado targets another gold when he competes for flag and country anew in the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games slated August 19 to 30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The 33-year-old father of five children from Quezon City bested Jayson Shaw, 11-7, in their championship showdown.
"Maganda pong preparation po ito para sa SEA Games. Puntirya ko po ulit ang gold medal sa 9-ball single event (This is a good preparation for SEA Games. It’s my goal to gain the gold medal for the 9-ball single event)," Biado said in a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao Monday, July 31.
This year's SEA Games edition will be Biado's fourth stint.
He first got a silver in his debut in the biennial meet then salvaged a bronze in his second attempt and at last won a 9-ball doubles gold in Singapore last 2015.
"Confident po ako ngayon para sa SEA Games dahil po sa pagkapanalo ko po dito sa Poland (I’m confident in this year’s SEA games because of my win in Poland)," he said.
Biado added that he is thankful for having been selected to join the SEA Games-bound national team again.
"Masaya po ako na napasama sa national team. Naglalaro ako sa ibang bansa kasi kasama rin po sa training namin yan (I’m happy to be in the national team. I’m competing in other countries because it’s included in the training)," he said.
He earned a spot in the World Games for placing ninth in men's ranking of the World Pool-Billiard Association.
But his current feat will improve his ranking.
Biado demolished Joshua Filler of Germany, 11-5, in the round-of-16, before surviving past Mieszko Fortunzki of Poland, 11-9, in the quarterfinals and Naoyuki Oi of Japan, 11-7, in the semifinals.
Shaw, for his part, toppled Chinese Taipei's Ko Pin-Yi, 11-6, in the other semifinals match.
"Nung first match ko po may konting pressure po kasi po bayan ko po nakasalalay sa laban ko na to. Pero na nagrelax po ako para mawala po yung pressure ko at inisip ko na kaya ko ito basta laro lang (There was slight pressure in my first match because my country’s at stake. But I relaxed to get rid of the pressure and played all the way)," Biado recalled.
He will resume training for the SEA Games when he returns to the Philippines.