Elliott, Checa earn maiden King and Prince 2020 titles

Sunday, January 12, 2020 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam

20200112_150249 — Aaron Elliott, 2020 Aloha Maid King and Prince of the Lanes January Champion

Aaron Elliott shattered the pins at the Central Lanes Bowling Center as he opened the qualifying rounds of the 2020 Aloha Maid King and Prince of the Lanes January edition with a 255 and 277 game. However, midway through the qualifying series, the short oil 36’ lane pattern shifted, and momentum swung left as southpaw Brian Manibusan took pole position by six pins.

With both bowlers earning a bye in the first two elimination rounds, Manibusan and Elliott continued their dominance in the Semi-Final Round. Manibusan blasted 7^th seed Michael Gadia 244-165 while Elliott dissected the path of youth sensation Jeremiah Camacho 225-201.

In the quarter final rounds, Gadia won a hard-fought match against 10^th seed JD Castro 254-245 in the quarter finals while Camacho ousted fellow National Youth teammate Noah Taimanglo 241-195. While in the first elimination round, Castro beat 5^th seed Darryl Dimla, Gadia stopped 6^th seed RJ Santos, Taimanglo edged 9^th seed Michael Wong and Camacho annihilated 4^th seed Ray San Nicolas with a 270 game.

Both Elliott and Manibusan struggled during the final match as they were unable to find a groove throughout the set. The crowd assembled at the Central Lanes Bowling Center witnessed a see-saw battle throughout the first half of which Manibusan led by a stick. A turkey by Elliott gave him a twenty-pin advantage after seven frames, but a split leave on the ninth frame gave hope to the top seed. With two frames remaining, Manibusan returned the favor on the foundation frame with a split, stabilizing Elliott’s lead. With the game at hand, Elliott picked the 1-2 leave to hoist the first Aloha Maid King title of the decade.

20200112_145021 — Julius Checa, 2020 Aloha Maid Prince of the Lanes January champion

Newcomer, Julius Checa, surprised the field of Prince bowlers edging Jaeceline Espiritu in the finals. The top seed was able to use his eleven pins handicap advantage to earn the title via a 156+27 to 162+16 set. The win qualifies him for the year end Grand Finals. In the semi-final round, 2^nd seed Espiritu sifted through 3^rd seed Claricelle Aniceto’s 31 pin handicap advantage to edge her foe by eight pins and earned the right to advance to the final match.

The next Aloha Maid King and Prince of the Lanes will be held on Sunday, February 16, 2020, 11:00 a.m. at the Central Lanes Bowling Center.