Baker Nips San Agustin for October Senior Championship

Sunday, October 29, 2023 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam

Story courtesy of Rick Torres

October champion Robert Baker receives his prize from Sheila Bangs.

Robert Baker took his first shot at a senior bowling title and made the most of it outgunning top seed Frank San Agustin 227-213 with handicap and bonus points to become the October PinPoint Senior Monthly Challenge champion.

Jim Pinaula took the Last Man Standing pre-tournament event after Manny Tagle conceded.

In the first round of the Senior Challenge, Edgar Nalundasan and Arlene Reyes were the top finishers in the A bracket outscoring Sheila Bangs, Bill Roberto, Jesse Eyoel, and Joe Murphy. The two advanced to round two to face third seed Art Dulla.

In the first round in the other bracket, Jim Pinaula and Zaldy Ponce emerged as the victors over Bill Taimanglo, Mike Sanchez, Cesar Soriano, and Virgil Toledo. Both moved to Round 2 to face fourth seed Manny Tagle.

Jimmy Pinaula receives his Last Man Standing award from Sheila Bangs.

The quarterfinals saw Jim Pinaula continue his quest by upsetting Tagle and Ponce to get to the semifinals to meet number-one seed Frank San Agustin. The other bracket had Dulla advancing over Reyes and Nalundasan to meet Baker.

Both semifinal matches ended in roll-off tiebreakers with SanAgustin beating Pinaula and Baker over Dulla to meet for the title match.

The finals were equally exciting as both Baker and San Agustin traded marks till the final two frames where Baker managed to score enough marks to get the bonus points he needed to take the championship.

November is the final month to qualify and get enough points for a place in the Grand Finals in December. The top 24 senior bowlers based on those points are listed on the tournament chat site. The Senior Championship will be held over a weekend with the final rounds on a Sunday.