Rubilen Amit Appreciation Thread

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AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Amit just won the Predator Las Vegas Open 10-ball event, beating Han Yu in the finals. The women's field was as deep as any World Championship event. She also won the Challenge of Champions against Tkach (winning best 2 of 3 sets).

She's a 3-time World Champion. Won the 10-ball title in 2009 and 2013, and the most recent 9-ball title in 2024.

At 43 year old, is she the best female pool player in the world today? Definitely arguable.

 
Have to agree. She was not on my radar until past 2-3 years. She definitely is performing on the big stage. I am so glad to see what appears to be a large push for professional pool for both male and female professionals. 👏👏
 
The Predator 10-ball final was the worst I've ever seen three-time WPA World 9ball Champion Han Yu play, but Rubilen was a very deserving winner.

I'd still take Han Yu or Siming Chen over Rubilen in a race to 25 because they run the table better. All three kick and jump well, but I like Rubilen's defense over the other two.

I think third best player comes down to Chezka Centeno and Rubilen Amit, but I prefer Rubilen's game. Chezka Centeno, who runs the table as well as the top two and has a ceiling that may be higher than either, still has a lot to learn and her tactical choices are sometimes shockingly bad. She'll be 26 in June, so the "give her time" argument is wearing a little thin with me. Rubilen Amit is a far more complete and far more thoughtful player.

Rubilen may be the most well-rounded player in women's pool today, but she is just third best in my books.

Finally, Han Yu plays as well as Siming Chen, and her resume of major titles (4 World titles, 3 China Opens and 2 All-Japan titles) is longer than that of Siming Chen.
 
sjm said:
The Predator 10-ball final was the worst I've ever seen three-time WPA World 9ball Champion Han Yu play, but Rubilen was a very deserving winner.

I'd still take Han Yu or Siming Chen over Rubilen in a race to 25 because they run the table better. All three kick and jump well, but I like Rubilen's defense over the other two.

I think third best player comes down to Chezka Centeno and Rubilen Amit, but I prefer Rubilen's game. Chezka Centeno, who runs the table as well as the top two and has a ceiling that may be higher than either, still has a lot to learn and her tactical choices are sometimes shockingly bad. She'll be 26 in June, so the "give her time" argument is wearing a little thin with me. Rubilen Amit is a far more complete and far more thoughtful player.

Rubilen may be the most well-rounded player in women's pool today, but she is just third best in my books.

Finally, Han Yu plays as well as Siming Chen, and her resume of major titles (4 World titles, 3 China Opens and 2 All-Japan titles) is longer than that of Siming Chen.
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great insight. i'm relatively new to women's pool, siming was the eye opener for me (unfortunately but understandably plays heyball now). i read han yu's resume the other day, it's an incredible list. does anyone have more trophies?
 
sjm said:
The Predator 10-ball final was the worst I've ever seen three-time WPA World 9ball Champion Han Yu play, but Rubilen was a very deserving winner.

I'd still take Han Yu or Siming Chen over Rubilen in a race to 25 because they run the table better. All three kick and jump well, but I like Rubilen's defense over the other two.

I think third best player comes down to Chezka Centeno and Rubilen Amit, but I prefer Rubilen's game. Chezka Centeno, who runs the table as well as the top two and has a ceiling that may be higher than either, still has a lot to learn and her tactical choices are sometimes shockingly bad. She'll be 26 in June, so the "give her time" argument is wearing a little thin with me. Rubilen Amit is a far more complete and far more thoughtful player.

Rubilen may be the most well-rounded player in women's pool today, but she is just third best in my books.

Finally, Han Yu plays as well as Siming Chen, and her resume of major titles (4 World titles, 3 China Opens and 2 All-Japan titles) is longer than that of Siming Chen.
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Great post. Along with Chen, Yu, and Centeno, I pick Chieh-Yu Chou to round out the top 5.
 
skogstokig said:
great insight. i'm relatively new to women's pool, siming was the eye opener for me (unfortunately but understandably plays heyball now). i read han yu's resume the other day, it's an incredible list. does anyone have more trophies?
Click to expand...
I'd guess Allison Fisher and Jean Balukas have both won more big titles, but Han Yu could soon be in the conversation for best woman player of all time.
 
sjm said:
Yes, Chou and Kelly Fisher would be five and six for me.
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Also I would add Liu Shasha to the list, unfortunately she hasn't been touring much outside China for the last few years. It would be interesting to see Rubilen, Chezka and Siming to match up three way races to 25 each.
 
I've seen a ton of Rubilen Amit over the past 18 months. She disappeared during Covid and didn't pop back up on the global scene until 2023.

From what I have seen, she is playing as well as any woman in the world right now.

Before her career revival, I would have put Kelly Fisher, Siming Chen, Chou Chieh-Yu and Han Yu at the top of my list (in no particular order). Tkach is trying to push into that group, as is Seo Seoa.

Alison Fisher and Jasmine Ouschan had appeared to be dropping off, though Ouschan might be bouncing back.

I think Centeno has the most talent of all, but as sjm pointed out, she sometimes makes shockingly bad decisions and compounds it with careless cue-ball control.

Case in point was the Predator 10-ball tourney in Vegas. Centeno blitzed through her first three sets and sent the eventual winner, Amit, to the loser's side with a 2-0 set win.

Centeno next went against Chou Chieh-Yu, and with the first set tied 3-3, Centeno made an egregious mistake and lost the set. Then she lost her composure. Centeno scratched badly at least twice - the kind of stuff you see among amateurs - and ended up losing 3-0 in sets.
 
They should have a Reyes Cup or Mosconi Cup for women. Given the immense talent of current women pool players, I think this might be due.
 
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