PHL bets Amit, Ranola beat foes in World Women's 10-Ball opener

Rubilen Amit and Iris Ranola opened their respective 2011 World Women's 10-Ball Championship campaigns with victories Wednesday afternoon at the Robinson's Galleria. Amit defeated Nataliya Seroshtan of Russia, 6-2, while Ranola downed Fu Xiao Fang of China, 6-3, on the first day of the event. Amit and Seroshtan were even tied at 1-1 early in the match but the 30-year-old former champion pulled away to take the victory in Group 1 where defending titlist Jasmin Ouschan is also bracketed. "Actually, (Seroshtan) had excellent pocketing but I was surprised when she scratched at one point. I'm happy with my performance even though I'm still adjusting to the table," said Amit. Ranola, meanwhile, defeated Guangzhou Asian Games bronze medalist Fu. She admitted that it is a big win for her since Fu is considered the Group 2 top seed. "I didn't expect to win to win because she blanked me in the Asian Games," said Ranola. "She wasn't lucky with her shots. I also had bad shots but I was able to recover. Chinese Taipei's Shin Mei Liu, American Monica Webb and China's Jing Wu join Amit, Seroshtan and Ouschan in Group 1. Group 2 is composed of Ranola, Fu, Hua Shan Lai of Chinese Taipei, Mary Rakin of the United States and Anastasia Necheava of Russia. In other matches, Kelly Fisher of England swept her Wednesday assignments with a 6-5 win over Eunji Park of Korea and a 6-0 blanking of Iran's Elham Shakori. Allison Fisher of the United States split her matches beating Praveena Neena of India, 6-2, before bowing to Jia Lin of China, 6-5, in Group 6. — Reuben Terrado/JVP, GMA News