MANILA, Philippines – Filipina pool player Rubilen “Bingkay” Amit made it to the Last 24 of the 2010 Amway WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Open on Friday at the Core Pacific Living Mall Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan.

The 27-year-old Mandaue City native entered the Last 24 with a 3-2 win-loss record in the Group E stage. The annual event offers $20,000 to the champion.

The top female player of sportsman Aristeo “Putch” Puyat bested Maureen Seto of Canada (7-1) and Kynthios Orfanidis of the Netherlands in the first two matches but yielded to Yuan Chun- Lin of Chinese-Taipei (5-7) in her third match.

Amit booked her seat in the Last 24 after she outpointed P. C. Lin of Chinese-Taipei (7-2) in her fourth match. The former call center agent actually had a chance to automatically slip into the Last 16 if not for her loss to Group E top finisher Karen Corr of Ireland.

Corr beat Amit (3-7) to tally a 4-1 record and advance in the Last 16.

Based on the tournament’s format, the top finishers in group matches will advance to the “Sweet 16” while those ranked No. 2 and 3 will fight it out in the Last 24.

Amit seeks to surpass her second runner-up finish in the 2007 edition of the Amway 9-Ball. She will next meet Xiao Fang Fu of China in the single elimination format of race-to-7 matches.

The winner of Amit-Xiao tussle goes up against Kelly Fisher of the US in the Last 16. Fisher tallied 4-1 win-loss card to top the Group D match.

Amit is the Women’s World 10-Ball champion.

In other related stories, veteran campaigner Elvis Calasang and Edgar Acaba Jr. advanced to the tournament proper of the Tiger Cup 10-ball tournament.

The event is set at the famous Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, Quezon City.

At stake is P20,000 plus a Universal cue case worth P3,000 for the champion; P10,000 for 2nd place; P5,000 for third and fourth; and P2,000 for 5th to 8th placers.

The competition is hosted by long-time billiards patron Sebastian “Baste” Chua, president of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP). – by Marlon Bernardino