Sunday, December 22, 2019 – CENTRAL LANEnsS BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
RJ Santos escaped a rough finale on his way to claiming his first Year-end title in the Aloha Maid King of the Lanes series. After leading the eight games qualifier he claimed pole position with a comfortable 38 pin lead, averaging 213 pins per game. Santos withstood a strong start by 6th seed Aaron Elliot in the semi-final match. Elliott opened a steady 18-pin lead over the top seed in the early frames. An errand eighth frame by Elliott gave Santos all the confidence needed to mount a come from behind victory. Santos capitalized on the missed frame by closing out the match with five strikes in row for a 229-221 set to advance to the grand final match.
In the Championship match, Santos took the first game over fifth seed Gregory Borja 198-182 with a steady performance as Borja, a two-time titlist, struggled on lanes 17 and 18. Borja bounced back to even the set at one a piece as he took advantage of missed frames by the top seed on the dual lane pattern, 173-196 to set up the rubber match. Santos and Borja fought neck and neck until the ninth frame, where Borja was unable to keep up with the southpaw’s persistence and eventually bowed out with a final score of 207-168.
Borja reached the championship match by edging 2nd seed Noah Taimanglo in the must-beat higher seed two matches, overwhelming the younger foe in the initial game. In the rubber match, Borja slipped past the 17-year-old 195-192 to set his name in the finale. In the quarter final matches, Borja bettered the output of 4th seed Mike Gadia 207-175 while Elliott edged 3rd seed Jay Leon Guerrero 206-204.
In the Aloha Maid Prince of the Lanes division, Claricelle Aniceto bagged her first grand finals championship via a 181-162 and 171-156 victory over top seed Jordan Hattori in the best 2 out of 3 finals series. Hattori qualified for the championship match after nipping sixth seed Shannon Bukikosa in the rubber match 205-198 while Aniceto also needed two games to oust 4th seed Lisa Duenas. Bukikosa eliminated Cris Leal in the quarter finals while Duenas bettered 5th seed Dominic Uson’s performance to advance to the semifinal round.
Each finalist was awarded a cash prize and trophy for their performances. The top sixteen bowlers from the year-round competition battled out over a series of eight games in the King division and six games in the Prince. The 2020 series begins on Sunday, January 12, 2020, 11:00 a.m. at the Central Lanes Bowling Center. The event is open to all bowlers with the King division contested on a scratch basis while the Prince of the Lanes is based on a handicapping format.
Guam Bowling 