From sleeping under billiard tables, Carlo Biado is now a US Open Pool champion

Filipino pool player Carlo Biado may be a US Open Pool champion now, but his situation when he started in the sport was very different.

In a report by Chino Trinidad on 24 Oras on Monday, Biado recalled how he slept under billiard tables when he was starting.

"Naranasan ko pa nga matulog sa ilalim ng mesa, sir. 'Yung higaan ko 'yung karton. Tutupiin ko 'yan para higaan ko. Pag bakante na, mag-practice na ako," Biado, who grew up in Pasay, recalled.

(I even experienced sleeping under a table. I lie on a folded carton. If it's vacant, then I'll start practicing.)

Biado, in a separate interview on Unang Hirit on Monday, said he started playing billiards at 13 years old.

Now, he has come a long way from sleeping under pool tables.

On Sunday, he pulled off what may be considered as one of the biggest comebacks in the US Open Pool tournament. Down 3-8, Biado won ten straight racks against Singapore's Aloysius Yapp to bag the title.

"Nakita ko si misis sumenyas sa akin ng ganon," Biado said while demonstrating the 'OK' sign in diving. "Hindi ko alam kung ano 'yung ganun eh. Siguro alam niya na mananalo ako. Parang nagising ako, nabuhayan ako. 'Yung mga Pilipinong nasa arena, nagsisigawan, nagchi-cheer sa akin, 'Go Carlo, kaya mo 'yan!'"

(I saw my wife signaling me. I did not know what it was. Perhaps, she thought I would win. I was awakened. The Filipinos in the arena also went shouting, cheering my name.)

Biado became the second representative of the Philippines to win the US Open Pool title, 27 years after his idol Efren 'Bata' Reyes won it back in 1994.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News