SHE WAS the tournament “dwarf” who feasted on giants.
Despite chocking in the homestretch, Thomasian poolshark Rubilen Amit proved naysayers wrong as she barged into the final round and captured the silver medal in the 2007 Amway World Pool Association (WPA) Women’s World 9-Ball Championship last April 8 in Taiwan at the expense of highly-rated opponents.
Amit, ranked no. 56 by the WPA, chalked up one upset after another against top-seeded rivals that included former Women’s World no. 1 Allison “The Duchess of Doom” Fisher of Great Britain and defending champion Kim Ga-Young of South Korea to arrange a finals showdown with World no. 5 Pan Xiao-Ting of China.
Although her giant-killing ways ended in a 6-11 loss to Pan, Amit’s impressive performance netted her a $10,000 purse and an outright spot in the national team that will compete in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in Thailand later this year.
“I did not expect to reach this far. I thank God and the UST community, led by the Dominican fathers, who believed and prayed for me,” Amit, who stands to defend her 8-ball and 9-ball SEA Games titles in December, told the Varsitarian. “I just played my game, focused and relaxed, in order to overcome the more experienced players in my draw.”
Redemption at its finest
Unable to advance into the finals of the recent BSCP National Pool Championship, Amit began her redemption campaign with a pair of 5-4 squeekers over Chinese Taipei’s Chan Ya-Ting and Kao Shu-Pin in the early rounds before nailing a 5-2 humdinger over Germany’s Janice Schwan to secure a qualifying berth in Group B.
Amit then yielded a 3-5 decision against Japan’s Makiko Takagu in the ensuing round that arranged an earlier meeting with the fancied Fisher, whom she conquered at the turn, 5-3, to reach the final 24.
The 26-year-old Accounting alumna, encountered rough sailing in her round of 16 tussle with Diana Stezcny of Germany, but still prevailed at the turn, 7-6, to arrange a grudge match with Chan, whom she later demolished via a 7-1 decision,.
Pitted against the World no. 2 Kim in the quarterfinals, Amit took a 5-0 headstart before coasting to a 7-1 victory.
Amit, the 2002 Asian 8-Ball champions, hit paydirt anew in the semifinals as she crushed World no. 18 Yukiko Hamanishi of Japan, 9-5, to arrange a finals date with Pan.
“The World Championship was a good morale-booster after a so-so performance in the (BSCP) National Open. It redefined my confidence,” Amit, who reached the final 24 of the 2005 World Championship, said. “I just hope that talented Filipina cue artists will earn the chance to compete in regular international tournaments like that of our male counterparts abroad.”
Prior to her Amway stint, Amit unexpectedly finished third in the 2nd BSCP National Pool Championship last March 30 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Coming off a 9-5 first-round win over Mildred Almero, the top-seeded Amit (who posted a 3-1 record in the double elimination alternate break event), blanked Minse Grace Mercurio and Jingle David with similar 7-0 victories in the quarterfinals before absorbing a sorry 4-7 semifinal loss to third-seed Mary Ann
The Mandaue City native, who had a 1-3 record against Basas in their personal head-to-head match-up, set the game tempo with an early 3-0 lead.
But pocketing miscues in the succeeding racks put Amit’s opening salvo to naught. Amit missed what could have been an easy eight ball conversion in the fourth rack before scratching in the crucial ninth rack that allowed Basas to clear the table and eventually snatch the win.
