By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Chezka Centeno and Rubilen Amit topped their respective American rivals to arrange a third-round meeting in the 2025 Las Vegas 10-Ball Open at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Nevada.
Centeno, seeking to retain her title, hardly broke a sweat in clobbering April Larson, 4-1, 4-0, even as two-time world 10-ball champion Amit whipped Briana Lane, 4-2, 4-0.
However, their victories set them up for a third-round meeting with the winner advancing to the 16-player knockout stage.
The loser, though, still has a chance as she would be relegated to the losers’ bracket in a must-win match.
Meanwhile, Jeff De Luna came up short of his title bid in the men’s side after yielding in the semifinals.
The 2006 Doha Asian Games silver medalist mustered all his might particularly in pivotal moments, but still bowed to Estonia’s Denis Grabe, 4-3, 4-3, 4-3.
It was a heartbreaking loss for De Luna, who could have arranged a championship duel with Germany’s Joshua Filler had he won over Grabe.
Grabe and Filler are competing for the title at press time.
De Luna settled for the $8,750 (around P500,000) consolation prize in this $125,000 event.
Prior to his Final Four exit, the 41-year-old De Luna edge compatriot Roberto Gomez (4-3, 4-1, 4-0) in the quarters.
