Twin wins for Ruselle

Ruselle Zapanta missed the May Masters crown, but did not go home empty handed as he won two other events the 33rd CNMI May Masters Tournament held over the weekend at the Saipan Bowling Center.

Zapanta, who finished third in the May Masters contest behind champion Robert Talavera and runner-up Percy Omechelang, ruled the All Events and was part of the quartet that topped the team competition. Zapanta posted 588 in the singles, 545 in doubles, and 637 in the team event to collect 1,770 pinfalls, just 18 pins ahead of runner-up Ador Dimaano (1,752). Rusty Musca rounded out the Top 3 after logging 1,719.

In the team event, Ruselle joined forces with younger brother Raphael, Simon Manacop, and Raymond Angeles in besting five other squads. The champion foursome totaled 2,280 pinfalls with Ruselle top-scoring for the team with his 637 built from 233 and 226 pinfalls in Games 1 and 3 and 178 in Game 2. Raphael had the second best three-game total of 626 (197, 224, and 205), while Manacop added 533 (183, 166, and 184), and Angeles contributed 484 (183, 157, 144).

Ruselle and company won by 166 pins against the team of Alex Castro, Raul Dumapit, Percy Omechelang and Robert Talavera, who combined for 2,134. Talavera was the best scorer on the runner-up squad with his 609 (212, 201, and 196), followed by Dumapit (541), Omechelang (514), and Castro (470). Lito Teodoro (457), Edgar Abalos (496), Ador Dimaano (603) and Musca (552) completed the Top 3 after compiling 2,108 pinfalls. The first three finishers received $360, $200, and $100, respectively.

Musca and Dimaano also partnered in the doubles events and prevailed against eight other duos. Musca had 195 and 186 in the first two games and closed out strong (201 in Game 3) for his 582, while Dimaano chipped in 562 pinfalls (170, 202, and 190) for a 6-pin win against the pair of Talavera and Angeles, who tallied similar three-game scores of 569. Joe Sablan (529) and Raul Dumapit (587) totaled 1,116 to join Musca and Dimaano and Angeles and Talavera in the Top 3.

Meanwhile, despite falling short in his bid in the May Masters, doubles, and All Events, Omechelang still went home with a trophy as he won the singles contest. He tallied 206, 158, and 235 in the three games in the singles to collect 599 pinfalls and beat Dimaano and Ruselle Zapanta, who were tied for second and third after registering 588 pinfalls each.

Dimaano settled for a deadlock with Zapanta despite posting the best single game score (247 in Game 1). He had 162 in Game 2 to stay in the lead, but lost the upper hand after knocking down only 179 pins in Game 3. Zapanta, on the other hand, made up for his 182 in Game 1 with 210 and 196 pinfalls in the last two games to force a standoff with Dimaano and split the $140 cash prize. Omechelang went home with $120 aside from the championship trophy.