Even field in men’s May Masters

  The men’s division of the 30th CNMI May Masters Tournament had a balance competition, as the three-day event produced different winners.

Alex Castro and Robert Talavera took the doubles crown, Raymond Zapanta topped the singles division, and Danny Robles prevailed in the all events to join May Masters champion Percy Omechelang in the winners’ circle.

Castro and Talavera combined for 1,278 pinfalls in six games with the former carding a field-best 675 in three games and the latter adding 603. The duo won by 45 pinfalls against runners-up Jorge Soledad (583) and Robles (650), who totaled 1,233. Completing the Top 3 were Zapanta (579) and Guam’s Jay Leon Guerrero (644), who compiled 1,223 pinfalls.

Other pairs who joined the doubles event were Lito Teodoro and Robert Talavera (1,128), Raphael and Ruselle Zapanta (1,114), Raul Dumapit and Ed Baluyan (1,078), and Benjie Cruz and John Taisacan (1,052).

Raymond Zapanta, last year’s May Masters winner, did not go empty handed this season, as he went home with the singles trophy after tallying a three-game total of 643 pinfalls, just 10 pinfalls ahead of Robles (633). Raymond played steady in the first two games with his 223 and 233 before drilling 187 in Game 3, while Robles had a 191 in Game 1 and threatened the former after a strong finish, posting 226 and 216 in the last two games. Omechelang rounded out the Top 3 with his 623 pinfalls (214, 220, and 189).

With Robles’ consistent impressive showing in the singles, doubles, and team competitions, he ruled the all events, collecting 1,864 pinfalls in the series for an average of 207.11 pinfalls. He was the lone bowler to average in the 200s in the all events, as runner-up Castro mustered only 1,793 pinfalls for an average of 199.22. Raymond Zapanta joined Robles and Castro in the Top 3 with his total of 1,771 pinfalls (196.78 average).

Meanwhile, the quartet of Omechelang, Castro, Dumapit, and Paul Pangelinan won the team event after combining for 2,360 pinfalls. Dumapit scored the most in the team event with his 628 pinfalls, Omechelang contributed 604, while Pangelinan and Castro nailed 580 and 548, respectively.

The team of Rusty Musca (623), Bernard Paraiso (529), Soledad (470), and Robles (581) tallied 2,203 for second place, while Joe Sto. Domingo (530), Jonathan Eparwa (477), Ronald Epan (629), and Soledad (536) finished third with their 2,172 pinfalls.