Barely minutes after the 2015 edition of AM8.com Queen’s Cup has ended, Team West captain Ewa Mataya-Laurance and Team Asia skipper Rubilen Amit expressed their willingness to do it again next time. In separate exclusive interviews, both captains said that they definitely want to have another shot at playing in the tournament.
Laurance expressed that she would love to do it again. The veteran shared that “It was my first time here. They ran a really good event. But when you haven’t done it before, it’s a little bit getting used to. The only one in our team that played two years ago was Vivian [Villareal].” She added that her team members had something going on before the tournament so they had no time to practice. Hopefully, given another chance; they will try have some practice because it could help.
Amit was ecstatic to win the Cup and said she was relieved it is finally finished. In her previous interview, she shared that language barrier might be Team Asia’s biggest problem in the tournament. The two-time world champion said that they were “really open about our strengths and weaknesses, para if certain situations would come up, we would know who is perfect for that situation.”
Laurance on her part implied that familiarity with the format was a key factor because aside from Villareal, “all of us are new.” And now that they know how the tournament is played, “we kind of know the pace now,” they want revenge against Team Asia. The veteran was proud to say that her team members have known each other for a long time and they grew even closer because of the Queen’s Cup. She said that they knew they were up against a great team so “if we tried to stay loose and had some fun, we have a chance at winning.” They almost did just that when they won the first three matches of the day anchored on Karen Corr to level the tournament. Laurance said that they “just ran out of steam in the triples and the quadruples” and that cost them the tournament.
For Team Asia’s captain Amit she was proud of her teammates. “I’m very happy that they are my teammates when I was assigned as captain because they are fun; at the same time, they are serious about winning the tournament.” And serious they were. After intense three days of action, her team composed of her, world number 1 Siming Chen, former top player Jennifer Chen, and up-and-coming star Eunji Park retained the title and the trophy as queens of 10-ball billiards.
MORE FROM THE AM8.com’s QUEEN’S CUP 2015
DAY 3: Team Asia bucks Team West comeback, takes back-to-back Queen’s Cup
DAY 2: Team Asia pads on the lead, moves closer to Queen’s Cup
DAY 1: Team Asia holds 3-2 edge over Team West
