Chezka Centeno defeated Rubilen Amit, 7-3, in an all-Filipino final to rule the women’s 10-ball singles in the 30th Southeast Asian Games Saturday at The Tent City of the Manila Hotel.
“Sobrang saya po na nag-gold po ulit ako,” said the 20-year-old as she now owns three SEA Games gold medals — all of which came at the expense of Amit, who is one of her mentors.
The Zamboanga City-native was quick to assert control of the match by clearing the first two racks, which eventually ballooned to a wide 6-1 advantage as Amit struggled.
The veteran cue artist, though, capitalized on back-to-back errors by Centeno to trim the deficit to just 6-3 but the latter did not let up in the following rack, pocketing two balls in the break.
Centeno was clearing the rack until the former world champion threw in the towel to concede still with two balls left, and then gave the former a hug to congratulate her for the triumph.
“Talagang break and run siya tapos ako wala akong break,” Amit said. “May nagtanong sa’kin ano yung strength ko sabi ko yung 10-ball wala akong break and very obvious in this tournament.
“In this match talagang hindi nagaano yung break ko, laging dry. Si Chezka open, ubos ng ubos. Kaya yung 10-ball binigay ko na, sabi ko baka humaba pa tayo,” she added with a chuckle.
Centeno and Amit will face each other once again on Sunday, December 8, in the 9-ball final.
