FILIPINA cue ace Chezka Centeno overcame a 0-4 deficit and her own miscues to beat South Korean Seo Seoa 11-7 and capture the APF Asian 9-ball women’s championship trophy yesterday at the Aspire Recreation Centre in Singapore.
Known for her quick play on the table, Centeno, 23, was error-prone in the early going and fell into an early 0-4 hole but battled back strong to win the next nine racks en route to winning the first Asian 9-ball women’s crown.
The 2015 Singapore Asian Games women’s 9-ball champ pocketed the top prize of Singaporean $5,000 (around P201,000) while the South Korean took home the runner-up purse of SGD $2,500 (P100,000) in the event co-organized by the Asian Pool Federation and British promotions outfit Matchroom.
Earlier in the day, Centeno whipped Vietnam’s Bui Xuan Vang 9-1 while Seo subdued compatriot Kim Bogeon 9-6 in the semifinals.
Hoping to make it a golden sweep by Filipinos later in the night is James “Dodong Diamond” Aranas, who advanced to the Asian Open 9-ball finals by beating Japan’s Oi Naoyuki 11-6 in the semifinals.
Behind a rock-solid break, Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi foiled what could have been an all-Filipino finale by crushing Johann Chua 11-2 in the other semis match.