World's No.1 Fisher booted out; Amit RP's last hope in 10-Ball bash

Allison Fisher, the great Duchess of Doom, has bowed out of the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. The world’s No.1 lady player suffered her third straight defeat Wednesday — a heartbreaking 5-6 setback to Korean rival Eun Ji Park — and made an early exit from one of the world’s biggest tournaments for women pool players. A crucial blunder by the British ace player in the 11th and final rack cost her the match. After winning the 10th rack and tying the match to set up a hill-hill encounter, Fisher got a crack at wrapping up the match as she was all set to make the break. She knocked in the pink No. 4, but also scratched the cue ball, giving her younger Korean rival a new lease on life. Park, who faced the highly-touted British player for the first time in her career, cleaned up the table and completed a king-sized upset. “I was really feeling the pressure. This match was really stressful, but I had luck going my way because she missed a lot of easy shots," said Dragon Promotions executive Cindy Lee, who acted as interpreter for the 21-year-old Park. Park’s victory put her into a tie for the lead in Group 2 along with Akimi Kajitani of Japan and Dou Dou Zhou of China. The Korean’s triumph assured her a spot in the Round-of-24. Park’s stunning win over her more illustrious rival was the biggest victory of Day 3. Defending champion Rubilen Amit lost in her final group match to China Open winner Tsai Pei Chen, 6-2, preventing the Filipina ace from gaining an outright berth in the last 16. The 29-year-old Amit won the first rack, but Chen began to dominate the match, capitalizing on every miscue Amit made and even scoring three consecutive rack-clinching combinations to gain a commanding 5-1 lead. "That's how the match goes, the player that commits the fewest errors will control it," said Amit, who admitted she struggled in her match barely weeks after meeting Chen in the China Open won by the Chinese cue artist. Amit will be the last woman standing for the Philippines in the knockout stage after Iris Ranola failed to qualify on the last day of the group stage at Nuvo City in Libis, Quezon City. Ranola lost to Japan's Miyuki Fuke, 2-6, to bow out of the race for the Round-of-24. Ranola, a former US Open and National Pool champion, finished the eliminations with three wins and two defeats and ended up in a four-way tie for the lead with South Korea's Yu Ram Cha, Fuke, Spain's Amalia Matas and China's Wu Jing in Group 5. But the Filipina cue artist wound up with an inferior tie-break score. Under the format, the top three players at the end of the single-round group elimination matches advance to the next round. Also advancing into the Round-of-16 is World No. 2 Kelly Fisher of Great Britain, who clobbered 13-year-old sensation Gillian Go of the Philippines, 6-3. Fisher found herself trailing, 1-2, but started to make her presence felt against the first-year high school student from Jubilee Christian Academy in E. Rodriguez. The more experienced British outwitted her younger rival through exchanges of safety shots. "She punished me. I was struggling early and she played well. I think she has become a better player compared to last year," said Fisher, who failed to play Go last year when the latter made her debut as a Grade 6 student. "I learned a lot from her, especially when it comes to attempting some safety shots," said Go. Austria's Jasmine Ouschan, one of the tournament’s biggest attractions, also stayed perfect and coasted to the Round-of-16. Action in the Women’s World 10-Ball resumes Thursday beginning 10 a.m. at Nuvo City, while matches at Robinson's Galleria start at 2 p.m. The semifinals and finals will be held on Friday in front of an expected packed crowd at Robinson's Galleria in Ortigas. - KY, With reports from Rey Joble