3 top PBA Classified tourney

Posted on Aug 18 2014

From left, Class A champion Raul Dumapit, Class B winner Roger De Guzman, and Class C top finisher Gigi Zapanta pose with their prizes during the awards ceremony for the 2014 PBA Classified Bowling Tournament last Saturday at the Saipan Bowling Center. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Raul Dumapit, Roger De Guzman, and Gigi Zapanta won their respective events in the 2013 Philippine Bowling Association Budweiser Classified Tournament held early this month at the Saipan Bowling Center.

Dumapit clinched the championship in Class A after beating Robert Talavera in the finals, while De Guzman and Zapanta prevailed in Class B and C title duels against Arnel Ibarreta and Marie Candado, respectively.

The Talavera-Dumapit championship showdown was decided after only one game with the latter posting a 212-194 victory. Dumapit took the outright finals berth in Class A after topping the six-game qualifying roll-off, which featured 26 bowlers. The eventual champion tallied 200-plus pinfalls in three games (213, 258 and 263) to go with his 189, 179, and 178 for a total of 1,280 and average of 213.33. He and Talavera (169, 215 189, 161, 223, and 255) were the only two bowlers to average at least 200 pinfalls in the qualifier with the latter collecting 1,212 and averaging 202.

With his second place finish in the six-game roll-off, Talavera marched into the stepladder finals along with third placer Rusty Musca. Musca averaged 193.83 pinfalls in the qualifier after recording 1,163 (180, 221, 180, 257, 175, and 150). Talavera and Musca went on to battle in the semifinals with the former winning, 170-167, to set a finals tiff against Dumapit.

In Class B, De Guzman also ruled the qualifying roll-off against 24 others and needed an extra game to foil Ibarreta’s upset bid. De Guzman collected 1,187 pinfalls (204, 179, 182, 211, 231, 180) and averaged 197.83 to lead the qualifiers in the stepladder finals. Ibarreta, who registered 1,082 pinfalls (189, 243, 192, 149, 162 and 148) and averaged 180.33) and M.J. Aldan (1,051 pinfalls and average of 175.17) joined De Guzman in the playoffs. Ibaretta then eliminated Aldan, 224-184, to make it to the finals where he won Game 1, 154-148, to force a rubber match. In the deciding Game 2, De Guzman avoided Ibaretta’s upset axe after notching a 156-142 victory.

In the Class C, Zapanta also took two games to pull off an upset in the all-female finale against Candado. Candado was an outright finalist in the division after topping the qualifier with her 922 pinfalls (139, 190, 153, 134, 143, and 163) and average of 153.67, while Zapanta placed second after tallying 910 (146, 158, 157, 138, 155, and 156) and averaging 151.67. Tom Bernardo caught the last bus to the stepladder finals with his 902 pinfalls (147, 132, 164, 151, 152, and 156) and average of 150.33. Zapanta then ousted Bernardo, 145-137, and moved one win away from clinching the division crown with a big 154-126 win over Candado in Game 1. Zapanta went on complete a stunner with an equally impressive 200-141 triumph in the deciding Game 2.

Zapanta and the Top 3 finishes in all three classes received cash prizes and trophy during the awards ceremony last Saturday night at SBC.

Roselyn Monroyo | Reporter

Roselyn Monroyo is the sports reporter of Saipan Tribune. She has been covering sports competitions for more than two decades. She is a basketball fan and learned to write baseball and football stories when she came to Saipan in 2005.

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