Rubilen Amit has been crowned the women’s world 9-ball champion for the first time in her career, having defeated 2017 winner Chen Siming 1-4, 4-2, 4-2, 4-3 in the final in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Amit added the most prestigious accolade in women’s pool to her two Women’s World 10-Ball Championship titles in 2009 and 2013, scooping the $50,000 top prize and becoming the first Filipina winner of the trophy.
One of the most esteemed and illustrious fields in women’s pool assembled in New Zealand, with Amit overcoming three former world champions and four players in the top ten of the WPA women’s rankings on her way to glory.
Amit bounced back from a shootout defeat at the hands of Chen Chia-Hua in her second match of the tournament, defeating Gemma Schuman and three-time winner Han Yu in straight sets. She then dethroned defending champion and world number one Chou Chieh-Yu to reach the last 16.
There, the world number 20 defeated Filipina compatriot Chezka Centeno, before beating both Wei Tzu-Chien and Kristina Tkach in deciding sets to reach the final, notably winning the final two sets 4-1, 4-1 from a set behind against Tkach in the semi-finals.
China’s Chen, meanwhile, had beaten both 2023 quarter-finalist Seo Seoa and Japan’s Chihiro Kawahara in straight sets en route to the final, sandwiched by a deciding set victory over two-time champion Kelly Fisher.
It was Chen who raced out of the blocks in the final, taking the opening stanza 4-1, although Amit responded with back-to-back sets, with an exceptional bank in the early exchanges of the second set proving instrumental.
With Amit on the cusp of glory and 2-1 in front in the fourth set, Chen refused to buckle and was appearing to force a deciding set. However, she missed a routine eight ball and that spelled the beginning of the end.
Both Kristina Tkach and Chihiro Kawahara reached their second successive semi-finals at their showpiece staging, having secured bronze-medal finishes 18 months ago in Atlantic City.
Tkach overcame Wei Tzu-Chien, Margarita Fefilova and Seo Seoa in deciding sets, while three-time semi-finalist Kawahara bounced back from a second round defeat with wins over the likes of Allison Fisher, Wang Wan-Ling and Jasmin Ouschan.
