bingkay - congrats!

CONGRATULATIONS BINGKAY!

The Philippines' Rubilen Dacua Amit aka Bingkay is first runner-up in the 2007 Amway Women's World 9-Ball Championship, a prestigious tournament featuring the best women players from around the world Rubilen Amit, who is now $10,000 richer, cemented her reputation as one of the fast rising stars in international women's pool when she eliminated Allison Fisher in the even, held at the Taipei Gymnasium in Taiwan.

Xiao-Ting Pan defeated Bingkay in the finals at a score of 11-5. Nonetheless, players, fans, and sports analysts alike congratulated Amit for her very strong and creative play, which resembled her male counterparts from the Philippines. Pan dominated all week in the competition. She came out of the group stages with a 4-1 record and then went on to score wins over Makiko Tagaki, Monica Webb, Kelly Fisher and Pei-Chen Tsai to reach the finals against Rubilen Amit.

Rubilen had a very impressive win over Allison Fisher, who is considered to be the world's best female player. She also trounced former champion Ga Young Kim and Yukiko Hamanishi on her way to the finals. The field is the toughest ever consisting of Taiwan's top cue artists and Europe's Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan.

"Race to 5 is a joke," was all that Fisher could say after being eliminated by Amit. The loss put Fisher out of the competition and out of the top half of the board for the first time since The Duchess of Doom started playing in the World Championships in 1995. It also ended Fisher's run for a sixth world title.

Rubilen Amit is a double gold medalist in the recent Southeast Asian Games held in Manila. Two other Filipinas, Iris Rañola and Mary-Ann Basas, also competed in the event's qualifying round. Bingkay is coached by my good friend, Boyet Asonto, and is one of the MSBA's sponsors in 2006.

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