Sunday, February 26, 2017 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Fourth seed Nestor Valencia was having a rough time making strikes on the tough oil pattern Sunday at Central Lanes. Apparently most of the competitors in the Guam Senior Bowlers Federation February tournament weren’t either as many struggled to make the top ten shootout. Making spares were critical to survival and that’s how it played out as Valencia made good on his spares while top seed Rolly Hernandez could not as his three straight open frames opened the door for Valencia to come from behind and win the Guam Senior Bowler of the Month title 190-182 with handicap.
The long oil pattern resulted in lower scores than usual for the 24 person field trying to make the top ten cut. Eighth seed Mary Pangelinan took a narrow victory over tenth seed Norison Catbagan and sixth seed Buddy Saludo 200 to 197 and 189 respectively with handicap. Seventh seed Ben Taimanglo however romped over fifth seed Rose Pineda and 9th seed Zalde Ponce 216 to 138 and 152 respectively as well.
Pangelinan continued by upsetting third seed Ray Manibusan 191-160 in bracket one of the quarterfinals. Valencia stopped Taimanglo’s run 237-160 in the other quarterfinal match. Hernandez cruised to a 212-175 victory in the bracket one semi-finals. Valencia made the championship match by dispatching second seed Remy Matanane 200-171 in bracket two semi-final.
By this time the long oil pattern had broken down a bit and made making spares all the more crucial as the strikes became rarer and harder to connect. Hernandez started out well making good on the first six frames while Valencia suffered splits that put him behind early in the match. But making spares coupled with Hernandez not being able to strike or spare over the last three frames proved to be his undoing. The spares were good enough and a strike on the first throw in the tenth frame handed Valencia his first monthly senior title in over a year. This ended a streak of second place finishes that proved very satisfying to finally get in the winners circle.
The next monthly senior tournament will be at 11AM, Sunday, March 26th at Central Lanes. This tournament is open to all bowlers aged 50 or will be 50 by December 31, 2017. This is a handicapped event with a cash prize going to the top four finishers. For more information contact Central Lanes bowling counter.
Guam Bowling 