THE FIRST thing she did after pocketing the last ball was to sit down. And then, everything began to sink in – she had just made history.
UST’s Rubilen “Bingkay” Amit will forever be remembered as the first female Filipino cue artist to win a world champion. She trounced 48 of the world’s best to capture the World 10-ball title at the SM City North Edsa last June 2 to 6.
“I didn’t think of the winning part when I was on the game. My mindset was to play the game the way I practiced it,” said UST’s College of Commerce’s top cue master in 2000 and 2001.
Starting with dad
Amit, a 27-year-old accountancy graduate, was introduced to the pool table by her dad in their home province of Cebu. Eventually, her father and daughter’s billiard quests outside their home prompted Amit’s mother to buy them a table.
She wanted them home without keeping the young Amit from her budding pastime.
That early Amit knew billiards for her was serious stuff. Soon she was a fixture in tournaments in her elementary and high school days.
College, though, gave her a bit of reality check. With a relatively tough course in accountancy, she had to leave the sport for a while and focus on school work.
“Accountancy required a lot of studying and it was really stressful,” she said. “My classes were from Monday to Saturday, and though I had free time on Sundays, I’d rather rest than play,”
But billiards wouldn’t take a back seat for long. From a university standout, she would later join the national team.
Teeter-totter career
Just like the uncertainty of a billiards game, Amit’s career was a teeter-totter of success and disappointments.
Eight years back, the limited opportunities for a skilled female billiards player made her think of temporarily working as a call center agent. But having been tapped to the national team and later join the South East Asian Games (SEA Games), she abandoned the idea and went back to her favorite game.
Her stint with the national team was unexpectedly cut short after she, along with her teammates, were fired despite their sterling performance during the SEA Games.
“We had a stunning performance during the SEA Games, which is the basis of our standing in the national team, proven by the medals that we have produced,” Amit said.
Being sacked from the team also meant an end to the benefits she received from the government, a big blow to her family’s financial instability which started to wobble in 2007.
“I had monthly allowance and monthly supply of vitamins,” Amit said. “It was already a big thing for me.”
Luckily for her, the chairman of Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines Aristeo “Putch” Puyat shouldered not only her allowance but also sponsored her competitions abroad.
After this grim stage in her life, blessings began to rain down on the Thomasian pool master. Just in time to remedy the financial problems that caused her brother to quit schooling, she got another lucky break in the 2009 JBETpoker.net Women’s World 10-ball Championship, where she bagged 1st place and $20,000 cash prize.
Unyielding
Despite the constant blows on her life and career, Amit’s positive outlook helped her roll with the punches.
Pleased that women’s billiards already resurrected from its dead phase, Amit is pressing to join a competition in the United States after copping her world title.
“Although it is not a world title bid, what I’m after is the fulfillment of representing the country,” Amit said. She noted that the most fulfilling part of her recent win was hearing the Philippine National Anthem played.
Apart from giving her an unbending spirit, billiards also instilled a sense of discipline and self confidence into Amit.
“You have to learn how to value yourself. If you have self-esteem, then you’ll have self confidence,” Amit said.
And after years of wondering what’s in store for her, she finally came into a clear understanding.
“Hindi Niya (God) binibigay ‘yung todo, pampasabik lang. You have to do your part in order to succeed,” she said.
