Women’s World 10-Ball Day Three

Rubilen Amit overwhelmed compatriot Mica Claveria, 5-1, Wednesday night to become the first Filipina into the knockout stage of the 2009 JBETpoker.net Women's World 10-Ball Championship being held at the Sky Dome of SM North Edsa in Quezon City.

It was Amit's third straight win as she joined world no.1 Kelly Fisher of England and Charlene Chai of Singapore in emerging out of Group 8 to the second half of this prestigious event presented by JBETpoker.net, Dragon Promotions and Bugsy Promotions.

Fisher won all her five matches, including the 5-1 thumping of Amit in the opening day, while Chai finished with three wins and two losses.

Claveria, who made it to the tournament via the Qualifiers finished her stint with one win over Park and four defeats.

“I hope we'll have more Filipinas into the next stage,” added the three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and the 2007 Women's World 9-Ball Championship runner-up.

But as of presstime, Gillian Go, the 11-year-old pool sensation, was the only local bet with a fighting chance to make it to the single elimination phase of this $75,000 event 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.

Go, who suffered back-to-back setbacks against world no.5 Yu Ram Cha of Korea (5-2) and veteran campaigner Liu Shin-mei of Chinese-Taipei (5-2) Wednesday, upended Latetia Dos Santos of France, 5-3, to stay alive in Group 5.

The incoming sixth grader in Jubilee Christian Academy in Quezon City was to play Tina Meraglio of the United States last night with a victory giving the ticket to the KO round.

National team mainstay Mary Ann Basas trounced Sarah Rousey of the USA, 5-2, to finish her preliminary round assignment with a 3-2 win-loss card. She was hoping that Japanese Akimi Kajitani (3-1) would lose to Amalia Matas of Spain (1-3) by at least three racks in a match slated late last night to be able to join Chieh-Yu Chou of Chinese-Taipei and Julie Kelly of Ireland in coming out of Group 4 into the next round.

Last year's WPBA Rookie of the Year Iris Ranola bowed out of contention after succumbing to a 5-3 loss against Melissa Little of the USA for her third defeat in four outings. She was to face Karen Corr of Ireland late yesterday for her final match in Group 7.

Three other Filipinas in Nina Pangilinan, Meldred Almero and Chicago-based Zara del Rosario failed to make it to the knockout stage.

Among those who have booked a seat to the next round as of presstime were Jeanette Lee of the USA and Veronika Hubrtova of Czech Republic from Group 1; Allison Fisher of England and Yuan-chun Lin of Chinese-Taipei from Group 2; Hsiang-Ling Tan of Chinese-Taipei and Jasmin Ouschan of Austria from Group 3.
Liu from Group 5; Miyuki Fuke of Japan and former world champion Ga Young Kim of Korea from Group 6; and Corr, Tamara Rademakers of the Netherlands and Yun Mi Lim of Korea from Group 7.

The participants were divided into eight groups of six players each with the top three players from each group after a single round-robin making it to the KO phase. Top finishers from each group get a first round bye.

Matches in the first two rounds of the knockout stage will be race-to-8 racks, while the quarterfinals and the semifinals will be race-to-9 and the finals race-to-10.

Besides the coveted crown, the champion will also get the $20,000 top prize, while the runner-up will receive $9,000. The two losing semifinalist will take home $5,000 each, while those who will make it to the quarterfinals will be assured of a $3,000 payout. The ninth to 16th placers will receive $1,500, while the 17th to 24th placers will get $1,000.