Sunday, May 21, 2017 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
The Budweiser King of the Lanes proved to be an entertaining event as the World Bowling 37’ Melbourne short lane pattern caused havoc for many competitors. Three lead changes throughout the six-game qualifier ended with JD Castro bowling a 245 game that catapulted him to pole position beating out Nikko Gutierrez who led from game two to five. Both bowlers received bye rounds during the eliminations via the 1-2 finish.
Bowlers from third to tenth place competed in a single elimination round that witnessed the demise of three national team members. 5th seed Jaesang Lee, 6th seed Greg Borja and 8th seed Mike Gadia were all eliminated from contention as 3rd seed Ray San Nicolas advanced to the quarterfinals. San Nicolas defeated 9th seed Josh Madrid 213-188, Lee fell to 10th seed Dante Godoy, Borja bowed out to 7th seed Zachary Ford and Gadia was unable to get past 4th seed Joey Miranda III.
In the quarter finals, Godoy found his groove and strung a five bagger to send Ford packing 223-198. Miranda fought back from two early misses to dispatch another national team player, San Nicolas. Miranda forced San Nicolas to double in the tenth frame to win, however the shot went high into the head pin leaving a 3-10 split thus allowing Miranda to advance to the semi-finals.
Top seed JD Castro drubbed Godoy in the semi-final match as he continued his string of strikes 242-178. In the other semi-final match up, Miranda faced another national team player, 2nd seed Nikko Gutierrez. Miranda took the early lead until he missed a pin 4 in the ninth frame to give Gutierrez hope. Unfortunately, Gutierrez was unable to take advantage of the opening and Miranda slid by another national team player.
In a battle between two former national team players making their debut for the year, Castro opened the match with a strike as Miranda settled for a spare. Miranda then turned father time’s hand back burying five of the next seven frames into the pocket along with his patented horse shoe strike as Castro struggled with clipping the pin ten. However, there was still life for Castro as Miranda was unable to convert a 5-6 baby split on the ninth that gave Castro an opportunity to seal the game. With the game on the line, Castro’s tenth frame delivery headed into the head pin as he finished with a 214 game. With a score of 205 in the ninth frame, Miranda was forced to mark to win the match or hit nine pins to send the match into extra frames. Miranda’s shot in the tenth frame went on a direct collision with the head pin and was fortunate to be left with a pin 3. With the game and title on the line, he converted the spare and struck on the extra frame to claim the Budweiser King of the Lanes May title 225-214.
In the Aloha Maid Prince of the Lanes competition, 7th seed Frank Manibusan Sr. claimed his second title of the year beating out 11-year-old Annastashia Leon Guerrero. Manibusan was able to control the match from the onset and sustained the tempo of the game as Leon Guerrero was unable to find her rhythm throughout the match.
In the semi-final match Manibusan disposed of top seed Josiah Lanuza while Leon Guerrero slipped past 2nd seed Naiyah Taimanglo. Manibusan eliminated 10th seed Leody Ersando in the quarter finals while Leon Guerrero defeated Dr. Roger Kaneshiro to advance to the semis.
Lanuza led all Aloha Maid Prince competitors in the six game qualifier held earlier in the day followed by Taimanglo, Leon Guerrero, Kaneshiro, Frank Manibusan Jr., Virgil Toledo, Manibusan Sr., Jesse Flickinger, Eya Salandanan and Leody Ersando rounded off the top ten.
The next Budweiser King and Aloha Maid Prince of the Lanes will be held on Sunday, June 18, 2017, 11:00 a.m. at the Central Lanes Bowling Center.
Guam Bowling 