Sunday, November 26, 2023 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Rick Torres countered Cesar Soriano’s turkey in the early frames with a three-bagger of his own in the ninth and tenth frames to win 217-198 with handicap and take his second Pin Point Senior Monthly Challenge title at Central Lanes Sunday afternoon.
The tournament started with the always exciting “Last Man Standing” competition won by Mike Sanchez who chose to keep the guaranteed 20% of the prize fund instead of risking it all on a second straight strike.
The nerve-wracking first-round eliminations began with Torres and Joe Murphy being the top two finishers in the group A bracket over Jim Pinaula, Zaldy Ponce, Bill Roberto, and Henry Abasta. Soriano and veteran Manny Tagle overcame Joe Castro, Art Dulla, Rose Tosco, and Manny Torre in the B bracket to advance to the second round.
Torres continued by winning the next stepladder over Joe Murphy and third seed Frank San Agustin. Torres, however, had to beat Murphy in a best ball rolloff to advance. Soriano slipped by fourth seed Edgar Nalundasan and Tagle to climb into the next semifinals.
In the race to two wins semifinals Soriano overcame the higher handicap of top seed Bill Taimanglo to take two straight wins and a spot in the final match. Torres again had to win in a best ball roll-off over powerful second seed Cris Leal to move on to the championship match.
The final match started going Soriano’s way as he took advantage of two straight opens by Torres in the early frames to take the lead. But a missed frame in the seventh by Soriano gave Torres a chance. A spare in the eighth and three strikes later was enough to grant eleventh seed Torres his second title of the year. The win also awarded Torres enough points to get into the coveted top Elite Eight qualifiers for the year-end Grand Finals tournament of the Pin Point Senior Monthly Challenge.
The Grand Finals will be held this December over a two-day competition format. This year’s format is based on points earned by the top 24 qualifiers who participated in this year’s monthly senior tournaments. The top eight finishers will draw a bye in the opening day qualifiers for the remaining 16 competitors who will battle it out to get a spot in the second day of the finals against the Elite Eight. The public is invited to witness the two-day event to be held at the Central Lanes Bowling Center.
Also featured will be the high rolling big money Last Man Standing year-end competition that could grant the lucky winner a possible $2,000 that may be up for grabs to whoever wants to risk it all. The final prize fund will be based on the number of participants who will be ranked based on their highest game in the tournament.
For more details, interested persons may check with tournament director Manny Tagle during the Friday Night Golden Senior Bowling League.
Guam Bowling 