Amit dethrones Taiwanese foe

Rubilen Amit coasted to the Round of 16 following an emphatic 7-6 victory over reigning champion Chou Chieh-Yu of Chinese Taipei in the Predator WPA World 10-Ball Championships in Klagenfurt, Austria on Wednesday.

The 42-year-old Amit, a 10-time Southeast Asian Games champion, displayed tremendous grace under pressure in the final stretch to book the victory that assured her of pocketing $3,125 — or roughly P180,000.

She defeated Hye Ju Jin of South Korea, 7-3, in the opening round to gain a chance to face the powerhouse Taiwanese in the first round of the winners' bracket.

Amit is facing another Taiwanese in Wang Wan Lin at press time for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals and inch closer to her first WPA crown since winning the title over Kelly Fisher of England in 2013 at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.

Aside from Amit, also making an impact in this prestigious event where the world's best cue artists are vying for pride, glory and hefty cash prize is Chezka Centeno.

Centeno, a four-time SEA Games gold medalist, drew an early bye before beating Pan Xiaoting of China, 7-4, in the first round of the winners' bracket to advance to the Round of 16.

She is facing Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame Allison Fisher of England in the Last 16 to further advance into the competition.

The 48-woman Predator WPA World 10-Ball Championship, which started last 17 October, stakes a prize pot of $150,000 or around P8.5 million to the champion.

In 2022, Amit teamed up with Carlo Biado and Johann Chua to beat the British squad of Fisher, Jayson Shaw and Darren Appleton in the final of the mixed team event in Austria.