Rubilen Amit will be out to prove that women also have what it takes to shine in the male-dominated Philippine billiards as she competes in the San Miguel Beer-Quezon City 9-Ball Championship, which fires off March 17 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.
The 25-year-old top Filipina cue artist was given by the organizers an outright berth to the 32-man main draw and her participation ensures that all sectors will be represented in this $25,000-plus event sponsored by San Miguel Beer.
“I’m very thankful to the organizers for including me in this tournament, and I promise I will give my best to show that we, women players, can also make it big in the sport if given a chance,” said Amit, who is also preparing for the 2008 World Women’s 9-Ball Championship next month in Chinese-Taipei, where she is aiming to improve her runner-up finish last year.
“This SMB-QC 9-Ball is a great venue for me to train for the world championship and I will make the most out of it,” added the many-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.
Amit is one of the 13 seeded players in this first major billiards event in the country this year, a project of the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) coorganized by Bugsy Promotions, Puyat Sports and Negros Billiards Stable, and also sponsored by by the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), Trinoma, The Philippine Star, Ayala Malls and Philippine Poker Tour (PPT).
The other players seeded in the three-day competition sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board are former world champions Efren “Bata” Reyes, Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, current world No.1 Dennis Orcollo, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, reigning national champion Lee Van Corteza, former Asian Games gold medalist Gandy Valle, veteran internationalists Rodolfo Luat, Warren Kiamco and Ramil Gallego and Joven Bustamante.
They will be joined by regional qualifiers Aram Serquiano (Northern Luzon), Romar Villones and William Chua (Visayas) and Romeo Timcang (Mindanao), as well as those who will emerge from the three qualifying tournaments starting tomorrow.