Sunday, June 23, 2024 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam
Story courtesy of Rick Torres.
Third seed Manny Tagle put up eight strikes in a row to deny top seed Zaldy Ponce a second straight senior title with a 315-198 total including handicap and bonus points Sunday afternoon at Central Lanes Bowling Center.
The Last Man Standing event that starts the monthly competition had close to $1,800 to scoop to whoever had the guts to risk it all on a single throw of their bowling ball. This time Mike Sanchez played it smart and quit while he was ahead bagging $181 in the process.
Proceeding on to the tournament’s first round, Fifth seed Frank San Agustin and seventh seed Sheila Bangs eliminated 16th seed Yvonne Acda, 14th seed Arlene Reyes, 9th seed Cesar Soriano, and 12th seed Ruben
Moreliano in Bracket A. Eighth seed Jess Meno and fifteenth seed Jim Pinaula sent home 11th seed Jude Tenorio, 16th seed Jess Muya, 13th seed Manny Torre, and 8th seed Art Dulla in Bracket B.
Tagle’s 202 with handicap was enough to get him past Bangs and San Agustin to advance to the semi-finals in Round 2. Fourth seed Jesse Eyoel’s 270 closed the doors on Pinaula and Meno to advance to the semi-finals.
In the race to two wins in the semifinal round in Bracket A, second seed Charlie Cabarles and Tagle were tied with a win apiece and had to go to the best ball tiebreaker. Tagle’s strike beat Cabarles’ nine count to advance to the championship. May winner Ponce repeated this feat after nipping Eyoel to tie him in the second game by striking as well to beat out Eyoel’s nine count for a shot at a second straight title.
It finally came down to the championship and the transitioned oil pattern had broken down to a perfect scoring condition for Tagle’s Purple Pearl Hammer ball as the eight strikes to open the championship game was too
much for Ponce to counter having to put up big games in the semi-finals to advance.
But Ponce still went home a happy camper as the high June entry count raised this month’s second-place finish to $450 while Tagle got the $620 top prize. Eyoel and Cabarles didn’t do too shabby either taking home $200 apiece for their hard-earned efforts. It was Cabarles first time, and he was extremely satisfied with being dubbed “Senior Monthly Challenge Rookie of the Month.”
All the competitors have received points that add up to the grand finals in December. The top 24 bowlers who garner enough points through qualifiers and tournament competition will be eligible for this event which is looking to surpass last year’s successful finals in terms of prize money.
The qualifiers for the Pin Point July Senior Monthly Challenge are currently ongoing mainly on the Friday Night Senior League. Senior bowlers who are not in that league can still qualify via their other Central Lanes leagues provided they are entered at the Pin Point Pro Shop in Central Lanes before their shadow bowling session ends.
For more information, please contact Joey Miranda, Manny Tagle, or Jim Pinaula at the Pin Point Pro Shop at Central Lanes Bowling Center.
Guam Bowling 