Philippines’ top female cue artists Rubilen Amit and Chezka Centeno left for Atlantic City, New Jersey on Tuesday, Jan. 10, to compete in the 2023 Kamui Women’s World 9-Ball Championship.
The tournament is scheduled on Jan. 19 to 22 at the Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City where 64 invited participants are expected to go all out for the $30,000 (around P1.6 million) top purse.
The women’s world 9-ball event is coming off a four-year hiatus following its last staging in Sanya, China where Great Britain’s Kelly Fisher beat Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan to capture her second crown.
In that edition, Amit finished in the semifinals after bowing to Ouschan.
The world 9-ball title has been elusive to Amit in her past 12 appearances. She came close in the 2007 edition held in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei where she lost in the final round to China’s Pan Xiaoting, 11-5.
But the world No. 5 Amit is determined to start her season with a bang as she rides on the crest of a successful 2022 season where she won two gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, as well as the World 10-Ball Team title with Carlo Biado and Johann Chua.
Centeno, likewise, aims to make an impact in the prestigious tournament as she boasts of a world ranking of No. 8, as well as the inaugural Asian 9-Ball Open title. She was also a finalist at the Puerto Rico Women’s Open.
The $148,000 event will compete in a double elimination format in Stage 1 and a single elims format for the advancing 16 participants in Stage 2.
Stage 1 will be played in a Race to 7 format while Stage 2 will be Race to 9.