Ponce Over Meno for A Third Senior Bowling Title

Sunday, September 16, 2024 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam; Story courtesy of Rick Torres

Zaldy Ponce has cemented himself as the top seed for this year’s Pin Point Senior Monthly Challenge Grand Finals by shutting the door on Jess Meno 309-232 with handicap and bonus points to take his third senior bowling title this season.

The ever-exciting Last Man Standing (LMS) Competition started this month’s tournament. This time though, Jude Tenorio, a familiar face in the top 16 monthly finalists did not make it this September. However, he more than made up for it by using guts and talent to make two powerful throws and garner 15% of the LMS prize fund.

The opening round in the Bracket A shootout had last month’s champion 16^th seed Mike Duenas and 8^th seed Mike Sanchez disposing of 5^th seed Robert Baker, 7^th seed Henry Abasta, 12th seed Rose Tosco, and 14^th seed Ray Manibusan. Bracket B shootout resulted in 19^th seed Manny Torre and 11^th seed Alex Santiago advancing over 6^th seed Jess Muya, 8^th seed Charlie Cabarles, 13^th seed Bill Taimanglo, and 15^th seed Tony Sobrevilla.

Sanchez upset 3^rd seed and newcomer Joe Anderson and ended Duenas’ second shot at the title with a 217-score including handicap and any bonus points. An interesting footnote on Duenas entering as the 16th seed was that Liz Langas, originally qualified as the number two seed, could not make the tournament, thus resulting in the shift of the qualifying lineup on Sunday afternoon.

Meno on the other hand took care of matters on the Bracket B elimination round with his 220 (including handicap and bonus points) over Manny Torre (215) and Alex Santiago (194).

The quarterfinal round which is a race to two victories or a roll-off if tied resulted in the following:

Meno upset top seed Gina San Nicolas with a strike in the roll-off after each ended with a victory apiece in the first two matches.

The same situation occurred in the other bracket as 2^nd seed Ponce similarly performed his victory by striking twice in the roll-off to outlast Sanchez and head into the finals.

Ponce quickly opened the championship with four strikes to Meno’s two spares and two strikes in his opening four frames to keep matters close. But splits resulting in open frames for Meno in the fifth and seventh combined with Ponce’s three strikes in the 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th frames proved he just wanted it more. This was Ponce’s fifth finals appearance this year. It certainly has been a banner season for Ponce who looks like the odds-on favorite to be Grand Finals Champion at his current pace.

All the competitors have received points that add up towards the Top 24 grand finals to be held in December.

The qualifiers for the Pin Point September 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.