Sunday, January 28, 2024 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Story courtesy of Rick Torres. Photo credits Rick Torres and Sheila Bangs.
The second season of the Pinpoint Senior Monthly Challenge began like the end of their last season with a nail-biter as Edgar Nalundasan finally ended his draught by getting by top seed, fellow teammate, and tournament director Manny Tagle 198-172 with handicap to capture the January Senior Monthly Challenge (SMC) title.
The tournament began with the usual nerve-wracking Last Man Standing (LMS) competition. This month it was Virgil Toledo who under the new format is guaranteed 5% of the pot but is given the chance to get more or all of the LMS prize fund by knocking down a set number of pins through four frames. But there is a catch. The bowler attempting may stop at any frame he is successful in and keep the earnings up to that point, or continue but if he doesn’t knock down the required number of pins, then he loses what money he has accumulated. Any money left in the pot is carried over into the following month. Toledo risked it all and fell short on the third frame.
The tournament opened with the top four of the sixteen-person field taking a bye while the remaining twelve were split into two groups of six for the first knockoff round. The top two Group A winners Tony Sobrevilla and Liz Langas advanced over Bill Taimanglo, Rosita Tasco, Bill Roberto, and Jesse Eyoel. Group B bracket found Sheila Bangs and Rick Torres getting past Manny Torre, Robert Baker, Mike Sanchez, and Art Dulla.
The quarterfinal round of eliminations had Sheila Bangs narrowly getting by Rick Torres and upsetting fourth seed Cris Leal. Third seed Nalundasan had no problems advancing over Sobrevilla and Langas to get to the semifinals.
Nalundasan continued his title quest by upsetting second seed Jim Pinaula in a “best ball” one-throw roll-off after each had a victory in the race to two. Tagle had to do likewise against Bangs winning his best ball scenario to advance to the finals.
It was an exhausting battle of wills against the two senior league teammates who coincidentally had to get past their fellow teammates to get to the final round. Nalundasan opened with three strikes in the first five frames. Tagle however, was not as fortunate with two open frames in the first half of his game. Three more open frames in the second half proved to be Tagle’s undoing but Nalundasan also faltered in the last five frames to keep the match close due to the played-out lane conditions that caused problems with the ball reactions of both players.
Both tired warriors hugged each other afterward, satisfied with the match outcome, and were greeted with congratulations by the sparse crowd looking on. Nalundasan was grateful to finally get over the hump with his victory after numerous tries last season.
Qualifiers are currently ongoing for the next SMC tournament. Entrants can only enter through the Friday Night Senior League series scores. The top sixteen qualifiers will be in the tournament, but all entrants are qualified for the Last Man Standing competition. The pot will increase because no one won it this month.
Tournament inquiries can be made by contacting Manny Tagle at the Pin Point Performance Center in Central Lanes Bowling Center or during the Friday Night Senior League.
Guam Bowling 