Sanchez Topples Tagle for April SMC Bowling Title

Sunday, April 29, 2024 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam

It was a long time coming, and in the end, top seed Mike Sanchez threw eight powerful strikes in the championship game to storm past veteran Manny Tagle 250-178 with handicap to win the Pin Point April Senior Monthly Challenge at Central Lanes Bowling Center Sunday afternoon.

But Tagle himself had a great day as well. The former Guam National Bowling Team member and coach also cashed in on the Last Man Standing competition as he took a 15% cut of the collection before the start of the tournament.

The April tournament was more challenging this month as the lane pattern had many bowlers moving to the popular urethane balls to get past their opponents. The top four had a bye while the remaining twelve participants of the first-round elimination format ended with the following results. The top two scorers in bracket A were 5th seed Henry Abasta and 7th seed Tagle. They beat out 9^th seed Joe Castro, 12^th seed Arlene Reyes, 14^th seed Joe Cepeda, and 16^th seed Art Dulla. The Bracket B results finished with 10^th seed Bill Taimanglo and 13^th seed Jim Pinaula advancing over 6^th seed Bill Roberto, 8^th seed Mike Duenas, 11^th seed Frank San Agustin, and 15^th seed Zaldy Ponce.

The round two elimination rounds saw Pinaula squeaking by 4^th seed March champion Ray Manibusan and 8^th seed Bill Taimanglo who advanced to meet Sanchez. The other match was also close as Tagle got past 3^rd seed Edgar Nalundasan and 7^th seed Abasta to meet 2^nd seed Jude Tenorio.

The semifinal round was a nail-biter as Sanchez had to beat Pinaula in a roll-off after the two tied up at one win apiece in the race to two-win format. Tagle went into overtime as well, as he survived against the hard-throwing Tenorio in a roll-off to take two straight wins to make the championship game.

Both Sanchez and Tagle opened with strikes in their first frame but opened with splits in their second frame to begin the final match. But Sanchez put seven strikes and a spare over the final eight frames to put the game out of reach and take a well-deserved victory using the very popular Hammer Purple Hammer urethane ball.

After the match, Sanchez stated he had a good read of the lane pattern when he bowled Pinaula in the semifinal. That knowledge fueled his confidence against Tagle who was also using a Purple Hammer for the tournament pattern. The win was a long time coming for Sanchez and his hard work in practice to get top seed finally paid off this year. The victory also provided points to boost him into the top five qualifiers for the year-end finals.

The qualifiers for the Pin Point May Senior Monthly Challenge are currently ongoing mainly on the Friday Night Senior League. Bowlers not in the senior league can still qualify via their other leagues at Central Lanes provided they are entered at the Pin Point Pro Shop in Central Lanes before their shadow bowling session ends. For more information, please contact Manny Tagle or Jim Pinaula at the Pin Point Pro shop.