Talavera finishes sixth in singles

Team Capitol Hill’s Robert Talavera finished tied for sixth and seventh in the men’s singles competition of the 18th Asian Intercity Bowling Championships held yesterday at the Megalanes in Shah Alam, Malaysia.

Team Saipan’s Mark “The Shark” Halstead and newcomer Michael “Mike” Guirey of Team Capitol Hills also managed to break into the Top 20, finishing in 18th and 20th places, respectively.

Hometown favorite Daniel Lim bagged first place and the gold medal, rolling a superb score of 232, just four pins ahead of second placer and silver medalist Purvis Granger of Paranaque. Uiwang’s Jo Nam Yi (1,301) and Paranaque’s Chester King ((1.279) came in third and fourth, while Oh Young Ki of Uiwang took fifth with 1,255 pinfalls. Yi won the bronze.

Talavera, who finished fourth in Squad B, bowled strong in the middle games before slowing down in his last two. He had a bad case of the nerves in his first time out and rolled a series-low 175. The right-hander, however, bounced back with games of 214, 238 and 212, before wrapping up his lane time with a 195 and 182.

In all, the Pampanga, Philippines native and Saipan Bowling Center employee knocked down 1,216 pins in the six-game series for an average of 202.67. He shared sixth and seventh places with Zaid Izlan of Shah Alam.

Last year’s AMF Bowling World Cup champion C.J. Suarez of Paranaque was two pins off Talavera and Izlan’s pace, coming in eighth best with 1,214 pinfalls. Teammate Johnson Cheng was close behind knocking down 1,212 pins, while 10th spot was occupied by Kuantan’s Chang Weng Seng, who was good for a score of 1,211.

The next seven spots were earned by Shah Alam’s Zulmaran Zulkifli (1,207) and teammate Allan Chia (1,201), Kuala Lumpur’s Mohd Rohaizam (1,199), Aukland’s Wicky Yeung (1,198), Hong Kong’s Ken Lin (1,175), Jakarta’s Ryan Lalisang (1,173) and teammate Yuyu Lie Joe Tjam (1,153).

Halstead posted a score of 1,150, which translates to a 191.67 norm per game, while Guirey finished with 1,129 pinfalls and a 188.17 average. Halstead bowled a series of 217, 170, 204, 185, 162, and 212 playing in Squad B, while Squad A’s Guirey was impressive in his first off-island competition, putting together games of 207, 191, 221, 135, 175, and 200. The duo sandwiched Uiwang’s Park Ji Kwon, who came in at 19th place with 1,141 pins.

Two more bowlers from the CNMI ranked in the Top 40. Simon Manacop of Capitol Hill finished 28th best after rolling a score of 1,093 (182.17 average). John Santos of Team Saipan was 10 rungs and 26 pins below Manacop with a pinfall total of 1,067 (177.83).

Team Saipan’s Joe and Frank Sablan and Danilo Robles of Capitol Hill also didn’t do too badly finishing not lower than 53 in the 65-man field. Joe came in at No. 41 with a score of 1,059 (176.5). Robles came in 51st in the competition after bowling 1,038 (173), while Frank knocked down 1,033 pins (172.17) good enough for 53rd best.

On Tuesday night, the Asian Intercity got off to a rolling start with the 17 cities participating in the parade that highlighted the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was also graced by no less than Dato Ahmad Nawawi Bin Dato Haji Mat Zain, chairman of the Permenant Committee for Sports Education and Human Development of Sengalor.

Next up for the CNMI’s top bowlers is the doubles competition, which starts today at 9am. The eight bowlers are being accompanied by Saipan Bowling Association president and delegation head Jerry Tan and team manager Ross Zapanta.