Sizzling Talavera continues to roll strong

Robert Talavera continues to sizzle when playing at the Saipan Bowling Center as the veteran broke past the 250-pinfall mark twice on Sunday to win the Pepsi May King of the Lanes Tenpin Bowling Tournament.

Talavera, who also won the crown in January, was simply on fire in his final two games and wound up finishing his evening with an impressive 885 total pins.

The two-time king began his campaign by knocking down a decent 187 pins, then followed with a similar performance as he bruised 188 pins in his second game.
It was then that the SBC employee took over the competition as he went into a zone of his own and had his ball knock down 254 pins in the third game.

With his thirst to win the crown far from being quenched, Talavera held nothing back and made contact with 256 pins in his final game of the evening for an average of 221.25 pins per outing.

Talavera returned again on Monday in hopes of surpassing his mark, and to his credit, came very close. He broke the 200-mark in his first two games with scores of 215 and 207, then finished off his run with 197 and 225 pins for a total of 844 pins—third best performance in the tournament.

Placing second was Jun Canillo, who got off to a firing start with 242 and 223 pins in his first two games. After cooling off just a bit for a 192, Canillo closed strong with 201 pins in his final game for a total of 858 pins and an average of 214.5 pins per game.

Rusty Musca won third place with 844 pins for an average of 206.75. After a slow start with 178 pins, Musca heated up, got his fair share of strikes, and recorded a score of 234 pins in the second game. He returned with a pedestrian 171 but closed on a high note by hitting 244 pins.

With the win, Talavera took home $150, while Canillo and Musca pocketed $70 and $40.

Others whose performance enabled them to walk away with cash prizes include Percy Omechelang, youth bowler Raymond Zapanta, Simon Manacop, and 2005 king Richard Leong.

Omechelang was superb in his Monday roll-off as he finished with 825 pins for an average of 206.25. His performance was good for fourth place and $35. He also bowled on Sunday and recorded the 10th best performance of the tourney with a total of 773 pins.

Zapanta had the sixth and seventh best, with his better production coming on Sunday when he knocked down 799 pins—six better than his Monday numbers—to win $30.

Meanwhile, Manacop and Leong each had 791 pins, with Manacop getting his numbers on Monday and Leong on Sunday. The two earned $25 apiece.

The tournament is the fifth of 12 monthly tournaments this year. It is sponsored by Pacific Trading Co. and organized by the Saipan Bowling Association. It culminates with a season-ending championship tournament to determine the overall champion. All monthly winners qualify for the yearend contest.