Sunday, July 28, 2019 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
For the fifth straight month, the senior bowling title pitted the top two seeds in the Guam Senior Bowlers Association senior tournament for July. Second seed Manny Villega took no prisoners as he had the right touch stringing strikes to take two straight contests, 248-163 and 228-199 with handicap to upset top seed Jim Pinaula and lay claim to the July title.
The tournament long oil pattern had varied results during the opening shootout rounds as twelfth seed John Salas lost a narrow 170-164 game to sixth seed Alex Kloulubak. On the other bracket, tenth seed Virgil Toledo slammed eigth seed Remy Matanane 208-170. The odd bracket first round had fifth seed Manny Tagle getting a bye from eleventh seed Edgar Nalundasan who was a no show. However, seventh seed Rose Tosco took a close win over ninth seed Josie Catbagan 211-202 with handicap.
The quarterfinal first round started with lower seed Toledo over Kloulubak 200-186 and Tosco over Tagle 202-164. The second round continued with Toledo pushing on by upsetting third seed Nick Gutierrez 178-171. Fourth seed tournament newcomer Rene Cariaso stopped Tosco 212-197 to advance to the semifinals.
The top four semi-finals is a lower seed must beat higher seed twice format to advance. Toledo opened with a 192-170 win over top seed Pinaula. But Pinaula came back to keep Toledo from that second win with a 262-173 victory and top spot in the finals. Cariaso also opened with an upset win over second seed Villega 184-142. But Villega slammed the door with a convincing 245-181 victory to earn the right to meet Pinalula for the title.
The championship format was a “first to two wins” for the two top seeds. It was then that Villega was really honed in on the pattern as he blistered Pinaula in the first game 248-163. The strikes continued in the second game as Pinalula continued to struggle stringing strikes to keep up with Villega but eventually fell short 228-199 for the victory, monetary prize, and bragging rights for July’s tournament. It was a very satisfying win for Villega who only returned to tournament participation recently.
The next monthly tournament will take place Sunday, August 25, at 11AM. Under the new rules, the tournament qualifier will be based on the participant’s Friday Night Senior League scores which shall count as a tournament entry. The entry is based on a pin over average plus bonus points added to determine the top twelve finalists’ points ranking. A bowler can enter more qualifiers to make the top twelve shootout round. The top four tournament finalists compete for the top four monetary prizes that is based on the number of entries.
The top twelve bowlers will be announced and/or posted on the Friday prior to the tournament on Sunday. For complete information, see the tournament rules posted on the bowling counter or see Manny Tagle at the Friday Night Senior League.
Guam Bowling 