Robles storms back to win King of the Lanes

Dannie Robles came into Monday’s October Pepsi King of the Lanes roll-off at the Saipan Bowling Center in fourth place, but by the time the tournament was over, the southpaw had worked himself to the top to claim the top prize for the second time this year.

Robles, who tallied a total of 781 pins in Sunday’s roll-off, rebounded from a slow start in the second day to beat all comers by knocking down 911 pins for an impressive average of 227.75 pins per game.

After a pedestrian score of 174 in his opening game, the project engineer of Universal Construction picked his game up a notch and bruised 215 pins in his second game.

The native of Quezon City, Philippines continued to heat up and was on fire throughout the third game, blasting another 278 pins before closing his run with a respectable 244 to earn another shiny trophy and $150 in prize money.

“I’m just lucky today because I threw cross-alley only,” he said. “I couldn’t throw a curve ball because it will just go straight. The lane was really oily, so I’m just lucky.”

Robles was also the tournament’s champion in March, and last August, became just the fourth person to bowl a perfect game.

Finishing in second place was Day 1 leader Robert Talavera, who knocked down 844 pins on Sunday for an average of 211 pins per game. His ball knocked down 227 pins in his opening game and 206 in the second before he cooled off for a 189 in the third game. He then closed strong with 222 pins in the fourth game and was awarded $70 for his efforts. Talavera returned on Monday to roll the tournament’s third-best score, but under Saipan Bowling Association rules only the higher of the two scores count.

Rusty Musca’s play on Sunday allowed him to place third and bag $40 with 803 pins for an average of 200.75 pins per outing. He started slow with a score of 187, but came back strong in the last three games with pinfalls of 205, 208, and 203.

Glenn Garde took fourth place and $35 after connecting for 789 pins and an average of 197.25 pins per game. Like Musca, Garde got off to a turtle-like start and knocked down 190 pins. He put on a better showing in his next two games—208 and 203—but couldn’t finish strong and scored a 188 in his fourth game.

Talavera’s older brother, Edgar, placed fifth with 787 pins for $30, Kitz Barja took sixth place with 783 pins for $25, and Mark “The Shark” Halstead finished in seventh with 768 pins for $20.

Capping the top 10 were Joe Etpison (749 pins), Alex Cacdac (748 pins), and Roman Borja (745 pins).

A total of 43 keglers vied for the October King of the Lanes. It culminates with a season-ending championship tournament.