Manacop wins second King of the Lanes

Simon Manacop took home his second Saipan Bowling Association monthly trophy when he won the May Pepsi King of the Lanes Tenpin Bowling Tournament Monday at the Capital Bowling Center.

The 26-year-old police officer used his first two games as collateral, firing a 234 and 244 in his first two trips to the wooden lanes before bowing out with pedestrian scores of 185 and 183.

Manacop wound up with 846 pinfalls for an average of 211.5 in the four-game series. Prior to his sluggish last two games, the former youth bowler had it going, especially in the second game, where he recorded eight strikes, including six to start the game, to go along with two spares.

“I didn’t really had any practice the last two weeks so I wasn’t expecting to go out and finish on top this month. I guess I was just fortunate that no other bowler was able to beat my score and I won,” said Manacop.

First-day leader Richard Leong had to settle for second place with his 825 and 206.5 pinfall average. Leong had the typical roller coaster series Sunday, opening with a 193 before equaling Manacop’s 244, and then rolling a 201 before bottoming out with a 187.

Raul Dumapit was five pins behind Leong’s total toppling 820 pins overall for a 205 average. He sandwiched two really great games with two not-so-good ones, rolling a series of 213, 192, 169, and a 246.

Youth bowler Raymond Zapanta and Efren Cacdac completed the top 5 for the May roll-off with total pinfalls of 808 and 807, respectively.

Zapanta bowled a series of 197, 204, 186, and 221 for a pinfall norm of 202, while Cacdac strung together four games of 246, 134, 236, and 191 to finish with a 201.75 average.

Manacop, who also won the Pepsi King of the Lanes last January, pocketed $150 for the win. Leong and Dumapit were rewarded with cash prizes of $70 and $40, respectively, while Zapanta and Cacdac went home with $35 and $30.

The rest of the top 10, with their pinfall totals in parenthesis, were as follows: Raymond Angeles (787, $25); John Santos (785, $20); Dannie Robles (783); Kitz Barja (779); and Celso Agui (775).

The May Pepsi King of the Lanes Tournament drew a total of 58 entries. The monthly bowling competition is sponsored by Pacific Trading Co. and organized by the SBA. It culminates with a season-ending championship tournament at the end of the season.