Rubilen Amit, Chezka Centeno forge third round duel in World 9-Ball Championship
FILE – Rubilen Amit defeats Chezka Centeno 7-5 in the women’s 10-ball finals in the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. SEA GAMES POOL
MANILA, Philippines — Rubilen Amit and Chezka Centeno forged an All-Filipino clash in the third round of the 2023 Kamui Women’s World 9-Ball Championship after surviving their respective matches in the early rounds on Friday (Manila time) in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Amit recovered from a 0-5 deficit to overcome Amber Chen of Chinese Taipei in a hill-hill second-round duel, 7-6, after luckily sinking the nine ball on the right side pocket.
The World No. 5 Amit said she was lucky on the last rack and apologized to Chen for the fluke as she targeted the left corner pocket on that shot.
An unbelievable fluke for Rubilen Amit in her deciding rack win over Amber Chen… 😯
🎥 @PBilliardSeries pic.twitter.com/XBuWCBpDZa
— Absolute Pool (@AbsoIutePool) January 20, 2023
The 41-year-old Filipino had a dominant start in her campaign with a 7-3 rout of Wan Ka Kai of Hong Kong in the first round.
Meanwhile, Centeno took down home bet Dawn Hopkins of the United States, 7-4, in the second round.
The reigning Asian 9-ball champion, who ranks world No. 8, eluded Margaret Fefilova of Belarus in a hill-hill first round battle, 7-6.
Amit and Centeno meet on Saturday (Manila time).
The last 16 players will advance to the race-to-9 knockout stage with the champion bringing home $30,000.
