MANILA, Philippines — Philippine lady billiards aces Chezka Centeno and Rubilen Amit, gold-medal protagonists in the SEA Games in 2015 and 2017, are at it again – to figure in an all-Phl title duel not just in one event, but in two.
Centeno and Amit arranged a final match in 10-ball singles late Friday and sustained their brilliance on the green-felt table yesterday, hurdling their respective matches in 9-ball singles to also set up a gold-medal showdown at the Manila Hotel Tent.
Their unbeaten surge included a 7-4 conquest of Vietnamese Bui Xuan Vang and Doan Thi Ngoc Le as they also advanced to the quarters in 9-ball doubles, making up for the downfall of the men’s bets in 9-ball singles and on Efren “Bata” Reyes failure to make it past the semis in 1 cushion carom.
A projected all-Filipina final in 9-ball doubles won’t happen, though, as the pair of Iris Ranola and Floriza Andal was bundled out by the Malaysian duo of Lim Siew Boon and Wong Poi Sei, 5-7.
Another sorry setback was a 2-9 defeat Carlo Biado suffered at the hands of Indonesian Ismail Kadir in men’s 10-ball singles quarterfinals.
But Centeno and Amit somehow washed away these blots on their exploits assuring Team Phl of a pair of gold-silver finishes.
They were to dispute the 10-ball gold last night.
Centeno, the reigning back-to-back 9-ball singles queen, winning the gold in 2015 and 2017 both over three-time winner Amit, advanced to a third straight final with a 7-1 thrashing of Singaporean Jessica Tan.
Amit followed suit with a 7-2 drubbing of Thai Vutthiphan Kongkaket.
In the 10-ball singles semis Friday, Rubilen crushed Myanmar’s Thandar Maung, 7-2, while Centeno pummeled another Myanmar bet in A Mi Aung, 7-4.
In the 2017 9-ball singles final in Kuala Lumpur, Centeno beat out Amit in a thrilling finale that went down to one deciding rack. Amit committed one big error, and Centeno pounced on it for a 9-8 nail-biter.