Sunday, February 5, 2019 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Wake up Guam Senior Bowlers, there’s a new sheriff in town. Tony Sobrevilla walked in Sunday morning to try his luck on the new tournament format sponsored by the Guam Senior Bowlers Association and led from start to finish enroute to become the January Senior Bowler of the Month.
Sobrevilla got of to a great start by blistering the high scoring lane pattern to lead the pack with 221 points after the three game qualifier under the new tournament format using a “pin over average” formula. Going into the shootout behind him was lefty Gomes Martinez with 112 points. The top twelve bowlers after the qualifiers get to participate in the shootout.
The even and odd number bracket had several forfeits in the first round due to five participants who were not able to make the tournament. In the second round, sixth seed Rick Ada got a second pass to the quarterfinals with a forfeit win. However in the odd bracket, seventh seed Manny Tagle rolled past fifth seed Rick Torres 256-225 with handicap to get to the quarterfinals.
Third seed Zaldy Ponce quickly disposed of Tagle with a 223-158 win to move into the next round. Ada took a nailbiter by nipping fourth seed Jim Pinaula 226-222 with handicap to make the semi-finals.
The semi-final round was a “lower seed must beat higher seed twice to advance” in this contest. Ada pulled a second 226 game to take the first game from Sobrevilla 226-222. But Sobrevilla stopped his title run by taking the second game 251-194. In the other semifinal, Martinez slammed strikes in the final three frames to stop Ponce 228-211 to make the finals against Sobrevilla.
The championship is decided in a “first to two wins” under the rules. Sobrevilla opened with a narrow 200-191 win to open the finals. But Martinez struck back with a 206-165 victory to even the match and force the third and deciding game. Sobrevilla mustered opened with strikes in the first two frames while Martinez struggled with his striking power but matched up with spares to trail early in the match. The two battled over the second half of the game until an open frame by Martinez opened the door for Sobrevilla to take his first senior title with a 214-194 victory and the cash prize to boot.
It was a surprising victory for Sobrevilla who was convinced by Tagle to join just to try. Sobrevillas win sends him into first place in qualifying for the Grand Finals in December. He must however compete in five more contests to secure his position under the new tournament rules
The next monthly tournament will take place Sunday, February 24, at 11AM. Under the new tournament rules, the three game qualifier will be based on the participant’s Friday Night Senior League scores which count as an entry. The entry is based on a pin over average plus bonus points added to age and handicap to determine the points ranking. For more information, see the rules posted on the bowling counter.
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