Centeno keeps 9-ball title vs Amit; Biado tops men’s side

KUALA LUMPUR – Eighteenyear-old pool player Chezka Centeno claimed a second straight Southeast Asian Games gold medal on a 7-6 thriller of a win over teammate Rubilen Amit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center here yesterday.

In an all-Filipino finale that boiled down to one deciding rack, Centeno was set to congratulate Amit when the latter suffered a big heartbreaker – a scratch with only two balls left on the table.

Centeno took the virtual “gimme” and duplicated her conquest of Amit in their Singapore final duel.

There was hardly a drama and excitement as Carlo Biado triumphed in the men’s side, thus, completing another Philippine sweep in 9-Ball singles.

However, a projected all-Filipino final in the men’s side didn’t materialize as Johann Chua dropped his semifinal match with Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Huang, 7-9.

Biado smothered Vietnamese Nguyen Anh Tuan, 9-5, in the semifinals then trounced Duong by the same score.

Centeno and Amit provided all the frills and thrills in the classic rematch of their 2015 title showdown.

“I thought it was all over,” said Centeno, resigned she’d lost the match as Amit looked on the way to running out the deciding 13th rack.

To her surprise, she found herself back on the table with a clear shot at taking the gold on Amit’s scratch.

“Chezka deserved to win because she came back from behind, but it hurts because it’s a won match for me,” said Amit.

“It was a good hit, unluckily it scratched. Kahit ulitin ko at sadyain ko, di ko kayang i-scratch ‘yon. That’s how bad it is for me,” Amit added.

Earlier, Amit, a former world champ, blew away a crack at a 6-4 lead as she missed a side pocket shot, distracted by a whistle of a spectator as she was about to make a shot.

Centeno instead made it 5-5 and was the first to make the hill before Amit forced the final, deciding rack.