Two-Hander Rules March Senior Challenge Tournament

Sunday, April 7, 2025 – CENTRAL LANES BOWLING CENTER, Tamuning, Guam

The two-handed bowling style made famous by Australian professional bowler Jason Belmonte has grown in popularity with young bowlers the world over. Well, get ready world. The fever has caught on to senior bowlers like Cris Leal, who recently switched to this style to beat seasoned one-hander Jess Muya 233-186 with handicap and bonus points to become the Pin Point Senior Monthly Challenge winner for April.

Mike Duenas started the Sunday tournament by beating out several fellow seniors to be the Last Man Standing champion. He went for the fifteen percent of the $1000 plus prize fund but fell just one pin short in his strike effort.

The bracket rounds followed with 16^th seed Frank San Agustin and 12^th seed Jim Pinaula climbing out of the first round over 5^th seed Jesse Eyoel, 7^th seed John Abad, 9^th seed Gina San Nicolas, and 14^th seed Ruben Morellano.

The first-round survivors in the other bracket were 6^th seed Mike Duenas and 11^th seed Manny Torre. The pair outgunned 8^th seed Mike Gumataotao, 10^th seed Manny Tagle, 13^th seed Alex Santiago, and 15^th seed Rene Cariaso.

The quarter-final results found Pinaula getting past San Agustin and upsetting 3^rd seed Joe Murphy with a 269 game including handicap and bonus points. Duenas did likewise with a 216 game with handicap and bonus points beating out Torre and 4th seed Henry Abasta to move to the semi-finals.

The semi-finals started to heat up as Duenas evened up with top seed Jess Muya in the race to two win format and forced a best ball roll off that Muya won with a strike versus

Duenas’ 9 count to advance to the championship game. Second seed Leal unleashed two straight wins to stop Pinaula’s quest into the winner’s circle.

The finals was a first for a one-hander versus the two-hander for the title. Leal, who only recently picked up the two-handed style, simply connected his marks using a combination of strikes, leading to his first win this year. Muya ran into a bit of bad luck as he could not counter Leal’s strikes and had to settle for second place.

The May qualifiers are ongoing throughout the various leagues until the end of April. Interested senior bowlers aged 50 and over can check with the bowling counter or the Pin Point Pro Shop at Central Lanes for more details. Ask for Joey Miranda, Jim Pinaula, or Manny Tagle for tournament rules and event information.