Robert is master of masters

When veteran kegler Robert Talavera hit the lanes in the first two days of competition in the 24th Annual May Masters Bowling Tournament, his game was a bit off.

As he has done in the past though the 37-year-old was able to turn things around, go on a sizzling streak, and take home top honors with a superb performance in the Sunday masters roll-off at the Saipan Bowling Center.

According to Talavera, his play on Friday and Saturday was not as good as his competitors. However, it did not bother him as his main goal was to qualify for the masters event.

Qualify he did as he used the same ball he used when he bowled a perfect game last February, and placed third overall with 1,845 pins, knocking down 574 pins in the singles competition, 614 in the doubles, and 657 in team play.

In the 12-game masters contest, Talavera broke into a zone of his own and it came to no surprise as everyone in attendance knew Talavera’s checkered history at the SBC.

After rolling a 195 in his first game of the masters, Talavera heated up and knocked down 246 pins in his second game. The SBC lanes supervisor continued to sizzle as he broke past the 200-mark in the remaining 10 games—206, 237, 204, 258, 225, 257, 228, 229, 217, and 233—to finish with a total of 2,735 pins and an eye-popping average of 227.92 pins per game.

The performance was tops in the competition, enabling Talavera to earn an automatic slot to the finals.

Facing off in hopes of bagging the other finals ticket were Talavera’s older brother Edgar, Mike Guirey, and John Eparwa as the three placed in the top four to advance. Edgar was right behind his brother with a total of 2,557 pins and a 213.08 average, Guirey was in third with 2,498 pins and an average of 208.17 pins per game, and Eparwa was in fourth with 2,475 pins and a 206.25 average.

With everyone paying close attention, Guirey was able to rise above the rest as he won the playoff game with 198 pins. Edgar was just seven pins back with 191 pins, while Eparwa knocked down 162 pins.

Despite cooling off while awaiting an opponent, Robert Talavera showed no signs of slowing down as he opened the finals with a bang, converting four consecutive strikes. His strike streak ended on the fifth frame, however, the veteran was able to come through with a spare. He then nailed three straight strikes and spared his last two frames. By then, he had already secured the title and it was fun time from there.

Talavera finished with 241 pins, while Guirey put up a good fight but did not have enough juice to win. He finished with 160 pins.

It was the second masters win for Talavera, who also accomplished the feat in 1999.

“Of course I’m happy. I bowled super and I bowled good,” Talavera said. “On Friday and Saturday, I wasn’t really bowling good. It was okay, but the competition was really good and there were other bowlers that were putting up really high scores, so I just wanted to prepare for the masters.”

Talavera explained that the second play in the masters competition started, he was confident that he was going to have a good shot at making it to the finals.

“I’m use to the place [SBC] so I’m comfortable and that helped my confidence,” he said.

He also expressed appreciation to Saipan Bowling Association president Jerry Tan, as well as official Ross Zapanta and bowling coach Sarah Yap for their support.

“Most especially I want to thank Kitz Barja because he was the one that gave me the ball. It’s a good ball. That’s the one I used when I bowled the perfect game, and that’s my lucky ball, and of course I want to thank my friends and family.”