WOMEN’S WORLD 10-BALL DAY 2 RESULTS

Rubilen Amit racked up another impressive win as the Philippines’ top-ranked female cue artists blasted Su I Yun of Chinese-Taipei, 5-1, for her second straight victory in the JBETpoker.net Women’s World 10-Ball Championship yesterday at the Sky Dome of SM North Edsa in Quezon City.

This as 11-year-old local pool sensation Gillian Go succumbed to the daunting pressure of playing in front of a mammoth crowd and fell to world no.5 Yu Ram Cha of Korea, 5-2, in her second match in this prestigious event presented by JBETpoker.net, Dragon Promotions and Bugsy Promotions.

“I’m slowly getting comfortable. I’m usually a slow starter and I think with two wins already, I can make it to the next round, and hopefully go farther in the tournament,” said Amit, who is considered as the host country’s brightest hope in the event.

The 27-year-old three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and the 2007 World Women’s 9-Ball runner-up lost his opening match against world no.1 Kelly Fisher of England, 5-1, but quickly rebounded by beating Charlene Chai of Singapore, 5-1. Her triumph over Su gave her a 2-1 slate that moved her into second spot in Group 8 behind her tormentor’s perfect 3-0 card.

“Against Fisher, I made a couple of miscues, which is a no-no against a world no.1, that’s why I lost,” explained Amit, who was to face compatriot Mica Claveria (1-1) late yesterday.

The participants were divided into eight groups of six players each, who will compete in a single round-robin. The top three players in each group will advance to the knockout phase of this historic tournament also supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines, ABS-CBN, SM Mall North Edsa, Magic 89.9, Predator Cues, Takini Billiard Cloth, Aramith, Puyat Sports, The Philippine Star, and Bugsy Promotions and recognized by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, after emerging successful in her debut Tuesday, Go could not contain the butterfly in her belly and lost to a more experienced Cha.

Go, who defeated Australia’s Lyndall Hulley, 5-3, in her first match, looked uneasy and was seen breathing heavily during the match played before a huge crowd and televised over ABS-CBN and ESPN-Star Sports.

The loss dropped he incoming Grade 6 student of Jubilee Christian Academy in Quezon City to a four-way tie for the second spot in Group 5 with Cha, Hulley and Latetia Dos Santos of France. Liu Shin Mei of Chinese-Taipei leads the group with a 2-0 record.

Iris Ranola, another top local bet, edged Hyun Jin-won of Korea, 5-4, for her first win after losing back-to-back matches against Korean Lim Yu-min (5-2) and Tamara Rademakers of the Netherlands (5-2) in the opening day. She must win her next two matches against Karen Corr of Ireland and Melissa Little of the United States to have a good chance of making it to the knockout stage.

The second day of the event saw most of the pre-tournament favorites leading their respective brackets with only a handful of upsets taking place.

Jeanette “the Black Widow” Lee won her first three matches without surrendering a rack. She followed up her 5-0 blanking of Fil-Am Shanelle Loraine in the first day with a similar route againt Nina Pangilinan of the Philippines and Aspra Punhoo of South Africa. Lee was joined at the top of Group 1 by Veronika Hubrtova of Czech Republic. Loraine fell to 1-2, while Pangilinan to 0-3.

Former world no.1 Allison Fisher of England subdued Kim Jones of the USA, 5-1, to her third win in a row in Group 2.

Taiwanese Tan Hsiang-ling, who upended Jasmin Ouschan of Austria Tuesday, continued to pace Group 3 following her victories over Yukiko Oi, 5-3, and Chichiro Kawahara, 5-4, both of Japan.

Mary Ann Basas, who won her first match against Akimi Kajitani of Japan, 5-1, was the only undefeated player in Group 4. She was slated to take on Julie Kelly of Ireland and Amalia Matas of Spain late yesterday.

Group 6 was being led by Miyuki Fuke of Japan with a 3-0 slate followed by former world champion Ga Young-kim of Korea who was also unscathed in two outings.

Bmpap Release