'New Efren Reyes' impressive champion, receives nearly 1 billion VND in prize money

The surprise happened on the final day (September 29) of the Ho Chi Minh City Open 9-ball billiards tournament 2024, held at Ho Xuan Huong Stadium (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City). In the semi-final match that took place in the afternoon, the world's 2nd-ranked Greek player - Alexander Kazakis was in extremely good form, but was defeated 6-11 by Mario He (Austrian, world's 17th). In this match, the Austrian player had an impressive "golden break" (a shot that put the 9 ball into the hole).

Carlo Biado "escaped" in the semi-finals, before winning the Ho Chi Minh City Open 2024 championship in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the other semi-final, Carlo Biado (world No. 4) had a tough time against Sanjin Pehlivanvi (Bosnia & Herzegovina, world No. 47). However, the player considered as the "new Efren Reyes" of Philippine billiards showed his class at the right time and won a thrilling 11-10 victory, after Sanjin Pehlivanvi incredibly missed the 8 ball in the deciding game.

The final match on the evening of September 29 was a match between Carlo Biado and Mario He. The two players continuously gave the audience classy shots, while the score was constantly balanced. Once again, the Filipino player's class was shown at the right time. When the score was 7-7, Biado took advantage of his opponent's mistakes to win 2 consecutive games, taking the lead 9-7. From then on, the game became favorable for Biado. The world's 4th ranked player took advantage of the opportunity to accelerate and won 13-8 against Mario He.

Carlo Biado (middle, top row) received nearly 1 billion in prize money after winning the Ho Chi Minh City Open 2024

Winning the Ho Chi Minh City Open 2024 9-ball billiards pool championship, Carlo Biado received a bonus of up to 35,000 USD. In addition, the Filipino player also received a bonus of 5,000 USD from the main sponsor Aplus. In total, Carlo Biado received up to 40,000 USD (equivalent to 984 million VND). Sharing after winning the championship, Carlo Biado said: "I feel very happy. I hope I can return to Vietnam and defend the championship next year."

Finishing as runner-up, Mario He received 13,000 USD (nearly 320 million VND). The two third-place players, Alexander Kazakis and Sanjin Pehlivanvi, received 5,000 USD (123 million VND). In addition, the players in the top 8 received 3,000 USD, the top 16 received 1,600 USD, the top 32 received 800 USD and the top 64 received 450 USD. The players competing in the final round also received bonus points corresponding to their achievements, thereby improving their position on the World Pool Billiards Association (WPA) rankings.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/billiards-efren-reyes-moi-vo-dich-day-an-tuong-nhan-gan-1-ti-dong-tien-thuong-185240929234205355.htm