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
Rubilen Amit and Chezka Centeno have always been a wellspring of success in the international women’s billiards scene.
And in the 2024 VenBilliards WPA World 10-Ball Women’s Championship, they hope to show why.
“Competing against the best players in the world, there’s no assurance in this tournament,’’ said Centeno, the defending champion of the biggest 10-ball meet featuring the top women cue masters on the planet.
Although the multititled Centeno is fifth in the current WPA world rankings, she’ll be installed as the No. 1 seed during the Nov. 11 to Nov. 16 meet at Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The 25-year-old defending champion from Zamboanga City claimed the 2023 title in Austria after defeating China’s Han Yu in the final.
“We’ll do our best to keep the title for our country,’’ said Amit, the only two-time champion of the meet back in 2009 and 2013 before the tournament was shelved for nine years.
P2.85-M prize
The two aces weren’t able to compete during the 2022 revival edition at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic, where Chinese-Taipei’s Chou Chieh-yu seized the crown from compatriot Wei Tzu-Chien in the finale.
“They (Amit and Centeno) are still our brightest hopes on the world stage and we know that they can make us really proud,’’ said Billiard Sports Confederation of the Philippines secretary general Robert Mananquil.
Chou remains the top-ranked woman cue artist in the world with Wei closely behind at No. 2. Russian Kristina Tkach settles at No. 3 and Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan at No. 4 followed by Centeno, Taipei’s Wang Wan-Ling, Amit, Great Britain’s Kelly Fisher and Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva.
By emerging on top of the 48-player field, the champion will pocket US$50,000 (roughly Php2.85 million).
The 24 best players in the world secured automatic spots with five more players each from Europe, North America and Asia joining the tourney. South America was given two slots while Africa will send the continent champion with its lone spot.
“We have been preparing for this. Hopefully, one of us could pull it off,’’ said Centeno. INQ