Barja leads ‘late’ King of the Lanes qualifiers

Kitz Barja and 11 other bowlers advanced to the final roll-off for the season-ending 2004 Pepsi King of the Lanes Tenpin Bowling Tournament on Jan. 16 at the Saipan Bowling Center.

Barja and company topped the three-game elimination roll-off held Sunday, Jan. 9, at the SBC. The preliminary round determined the other 12 players that get to join the first dozen qualifiers for the $1,000 payoff this coming Sunday.

Aside from Barja the other bowlers that made it to the Magic 24 are Richard Leong, Jonathan Eparwa, Michael Guirey, Raymond Angeles, Jess Rebusada, Rusty Musca, Jon Hensley, Raul Dumapit, Edgar Marquez, Noel Sicat, and Glenn Garde.

Barja had a field day on the maple lanes of the Garapan bowling venue, rolling a 629 for a 209.67 average. Leong was next with his 610 or 203.33 norm, followed by Eparwa’s 572 and 190.67 and Guirey’s 571 and 190.33.

Angeles was fourth during the preliminaries with his 559 and 186.33 with Rebusada not far behind with 555 and 185.

The rest of the qualifiers, with their scores and averages in parenthesis, are as follows: Musca (554 and 184.67), Hensley (552 and 184), Dumapit (552 and 184), Marquez (545 and 181.67), Sicat (545 and 181.67), and Garde (534 and 178).

The Top 12 bowlers for 2004 based on the Bowling Ranking System set up by the Saipan Bowling Association, organizer of the Pepsi King of the Lanes tourney, are Mark Halstead, brothers Raymond and Ruselle Zapanta, Simon Manacop, Dannie Robles, Paul Pangelinan, Ronald Epan, Ador Dimaano, Arnel Del Rosario, Robert Talavera, Alex Cacdac, and John Santos.

The other nine players that saw action in the three-game roll-off Sunday but were not able to advance were Melvin Malvar, Efren Cacdac, Joe Etpison, Celso Agui, Roman Borja, Roman Mamauag, Ariel Dumapit, Jun Villlas, and Mario Mayuga.

Sunday’s competition for all the marbles will start with a nine-game roll-off to determine the Top 6 bowlers.

It will then adopt a stepladder format for the second round and finals, where the third-ranked bowler after the roll-off challenges the sixth-ranked bowler in Game 1, and No. 4 challenges No. 5 in Game 2.

In the semifinals, the Game 1 winner will play the bowler that topped the roll-off and the Game 2 winner will go up against the second-ranked bowler. The winners of the two head-to-head matches then square off in the championship game.

Pacific Trading Co. has put up a purse of $1,000 for the overall Pepsi King of the Lanes winner.

Entry fee for next Sunday’s coronation of the 2004 Pepsi King of the Lanes is $40 for the players in the Top 12 and an additional $30 for the “late” qualifiers.

For more information on the season-ending Pepsi King of the Lanes Tournament and its monthly editions, e-mail SBA through SBA officials Ross Zapanta at zapanta@vzpacifica.net or vice president Ador Dimaano at ador_dimaano@tanholdings.com.