Carlo Biado won two matches to set in motion his bid to win another title in the US Open Pool Championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The recent winner of the World Pool Championship defeated Canada’s Jason Munro, 9-1, and Germany’s Boris Ivanovski, 9-6, in one of the most prestigious tournaments on the professional pool circuit.

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Biado, who was recently elected to the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame, is aiming to repeat his victory in 2021 when he came back to beat Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp in the final.

His US Open campaign came three weeks after claiming the World Pool crown for the second time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is coming off a round-of-32 exit in the Florida Open, where he was eliminated by Mickey Krause.

Meanwhile, Jefrey Roda won three matches to start off his own championship aspirations on a bright note, beating Nguyen Hoang Tuan, 9-3, Paul Song, 9-1, and Lukas Fracasso-Verner, 9-6.

READ: Carlo Biado is again king of the pool world, wresting back the crown after eight years

Johann Chua, who won a tournament in Virginia in preparation for the US Open, defeated Floro Ritarita, 9-5, and Quinten Pongers, 9-7, even as veterans Lee Van Corteza and Roberto Gomez claimed two victories apiece.

Corteza defeated Kristian Dimitrov, 9-4, and Riku Romppanen, 9-5, while Gomez prevailed over Lo Ho Sum, 9-6, and Mustafa Alnar, 9-6.

Youngster Bernie Regalario took down Brad Guthrie, 9-3, and Donny Mills, 9-8, even as Marvin Asis trounced Kenneth Donald, 9-1, and Jan Van Lierop, 9-3.

Michael Baoanan was victorious against Rajmond Pali, 9-4, and Francesco Candela, 9-3, but dropped to the loser’s bracket after falling to defending champion Fedor Gorst, 9-4.