MANILA, Philippines — For many years now, the Philippines’ Rubilen Amit has sought the elusive world women’s 9-ball title.
She hopes to end the long, tedious search this year.
Armed with the confidence she obtained from a two-gold performance in the recent 30th Southeast Asian Games, Amit launched her quest with a merciless 7-1 victory over Sweden’s Monika Margeta yesterday at the start of the 2019 Hainan Sanya Women’s World 9-Ball Championship in Sanya in Hainan Island, China.
The win sent the 38-year-old Amit, who took the 9-ball singles and doubles golds in the SEAG, one victory away from making the Final-32, a single-elimination, race-to-nine stage.
But she will have to beat the winner between Poland’s Ewa Bak and Switzerland’s Christine Feldmann to make it through.
Amit, seeded eighth here, has won the world 10-ball title twice in 2009 and 2013 but came short in achieving the same feat in 9-ball.
She actually made the finals in 2007 but suffered a heartbreaking defeat to eventual winner Pan Xiaoting of China.
Since then, Amit hasn’t come that close to ending her quest.
Another Philippine bet, Floriza Andal, likewise set in motion her title bid with a 7-2 thrashing of Germany’s Tina Vogelmann.
Andal, who survived the grueling qualifying stages to reach this far, thus arranged a duel with fancied Jasmine Ouschan of Austria, the 2015 runner-up, who smashed Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chia Hua, 7-3.
Other Filipinas entered here are Iris Ranola and Chezka Centeno, who were battling China’s Zhang Muyan and Germany’s Melanie Suessenguth, respectively, at press time.