Sunday, 27 August 2017 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
In bowling the one who makes the most strikes usually wins the game. But it’s the one who strikes when it will make a difference that usually wins the championship. That was what cagy bowling veteran Rudy Palaganas had to do in order to overcome a surging Ray Manibusan 214-202 with handicap and become the Senior Bowler for the month of August. The second seeded senior lefthander had all he could handle from the eight seed Manibusan Sunday afternoon at Central Lanes.
The tournament bowling pattern kept the top ten pinfalls close. In the end top seed Manny Torre led the 17 person field with a 1324 pinfall going into the shootout rounds. Manibusan started his title run by winning the even number bracket over 6th seed Buddy Saludo and 10th seed Alex Kloulubak 223-170-197 respectively with handicap.
Fifth seed Zaldy Ponce narrowly got past three time 2017 winner and 7th seed Jim Pinaula and 9th seed Bal Perez 212-201-181 respectively in the odd number bracket to advance and meet 4th seed July champion Gomes Martinez in the quarterfinals.
Manibusan continued his quest with some key strikes to upset 3rd seed Frank Tenorio to move to the semifinals. Meantime Ponce likewise upset Martinez to go against Palaganas in the stepladder format.
The semifinals was a challenge as the lanes started to become a battle to the final frames as Manibusan upset top seed Torre 194-176 to head into the title game. Palaganas wasted no time on his match by opening strikes in the first three frames and never looked back by winning 244-207 over Ponce.
The championship looked to be an easy one for Manibusan as he pulled double strikes in the early frames while Palaganas only spared and had an open frame to start his woes. But errors by Manibusan kept Palaganas in contention and as the final half of the match came to a close, it looked like Manibusan was going to pull his third straight upset. But Palaganas pulled four strikes in a row to slam the door on Manibusan and take the crown.
The next monthly senior tournament will be at 9AM, Sunday, September 24th 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 