Win over Ouschan boosts Amit's bid

MANILA, Philippines - Rubilen Amit outplayed Jasmin Ouschan of Austria in a duel of champions, pulling off an emphatic 6-2 victory to top Group 1 of the 2011 Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship at the Robinson’s Galleria yesterday.

Amit, winner of the inaugural staging of the event in 2009, pounced on an early miscue by the reigning champion, snatching a 2-1 lead before taking the next three racks with superb shotmaking.

“I actually started better in my loss to Webb than my game here against Ouschan,” said Amit in Filipino. “But she gave me a chance after she missed the 10-ball. Who would’ve thought she’d miss that. I’ll give her another 100 tries and I know she wouldn’t miss it again.”

But Amit’s bid to wrap things up hit a snag when, with four balls to go, she missed the 6-ball, enabling Ouschan to get the rack and cut the deficit to 2-5.

The comely Ouschan, a crowd favorite, raised her two hands in a bid to fire herself up. But she failed to complete a break and run-out with a poor safety shot and Amit wrapped up the match with a spectacular carom shot on Nos. 6 and 10.

“It’s my first win in three matches against her (Ouschan), she beat me in nine-ball twice before this match, I’m glad I finally won over her,” said Amit.

Iris Ranola bounced back from a tough 5-6 loss to youthful Russian Anastasia Necheava with a 6-4 win over Chinese Taipei’s Hui Shan Lai to advance.

Amit actually finished tied with Ouschan but took the No. 1 spot with the highest number of racks won.