Day 1 of the WPA Women’s 9-Ball World Championship saw contrasting paths for the two Filipino contenders. Rubilen Amit opened her title defense with a hard-fought 2–1 (4–2, 3–4, 4–0) victory over Silviana Lu, in Round 1.

Amit later dropped to the losers’ side after a straight-sets loss to Chia-Chia Chou, 0–2 (2–4, 2–4), in the winners’ round. Amit is set to return to action in Losers’ Round 2, where she will face the winner of Aleksandra Guleikova vs Miyuki Kuribayashi. The match is scheduled for Friday, 9:00 PM Manila time.

Chezka Centeno, meanwhile, enjoyed a strong opening day. She cruised past Shanelle Loraine with a 2–0 win, 4–2, 4–1, in Round 1 before edging arch-nemesis Han Yu in a three-set battle, 2–1 (3–4, 4–3, 4–1), to stay on the winners’ side of the draw. Centeno will next face Kelly Fisher in the winners’ qualification match, scheduled for Saturday, 1:30 AM Manila time with the winner advancing to the Last 16.