PH dominance in cue sports continue as Centeno reclaims world women’s 10-ball title

In the end, it was an all-Filipina title bout that celebrated the country’s dominance in women’s cue sports.

When Chezka Centeno sank the final 10-ball to clinch her second world title, it was a full-circle moment. Facing her mentor Rubilen Amit under the bright lights of the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship on Oct. 12, Centeno’s victory felt like both a continuation of tradition and a glimpse into the sport’s future.

Centeno grasped the victory in five frames, 4-1, 2-4, 4-2, 3-4, 4-2, to capture the title once again.

With her previous title in 2023, Centeno joined Amit who won in 2009 and 2013 as the only two players to have won the trophy twice. 

Other than Centeno and Amit, another four Filipina pool players took their chances to stand victorious at the prestigious championship, hoping to join the likes of Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante as known cue sport legends.

The Philippines has long been synonymous with cue sports excellence. Reyes and Bustamante were the pioneers of showing the country in the global scene of billiards. And after Centeno’s successful triumph, the Pinoy dominance that the two legends started is yet to die out and only continues to grow — even to the women’s division.

The champion started her comeback tour by blowing past Brittany Bryant from Canada with precise pocket shots.

However, Centeno’s path to the championship wasn’t smooth. 

Despite blowing past Canadian Brittany Bryant in her first match of the tourney, Centeno fell to Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hua Chen that forced her to continue her campaign to the loser’s bracket.

Even so, Centeno only showed resilience and mental toughness as she dominated and defeated different pool players from the lower map.

Amit, meanwhile, cruised through the upper draw and defeated Margarita Fefilova from Russia in the semifinals to finally lock the final match against her protege.

While the title bout went back and forth between the two, it was clear that the fight was more than for the championship itself; but also a passing of the torch between Amit, the seasoned vet for two decades, and Centeno who was once her student in Zamboanga.

Each rack, the two proved something more beyond the pool table. In a sport still widely dominated by men, each other’s performance proved that Filipinas can also rule not just 10-ball, but cue sports too.

In the final frame, Centeno outlasted her friend and mentor to secure the $50,000 grand prize while Amit settled for $25,000 for finishing as a runner-up.

Centeno and Amit, being the current faces of women’s cue sports in the country, prove that the Philippine dominance in cue sports remains unshakable and brighter than ever.