Angeles bags PBA Bowler of the Year plum

Raymond Angeles, seen here showing the trophy he won in a local event last year, topped the 2014 PBA Budweiser Bowler of the Year Tournament held last Sunday at the Saipan Bowling Center. (Contributed Photo)

Angeles topped the nine-game qualifier and withstood Robert Talavera’s challenge in the finals to clinch the championship in the Philippine Bowling Association-organized tournament that took place last Sunday.

The newly crowned champion knocked down 200-plus pinfalls in three of the nine games in the qualifying tournament to prevail against 23 other players. He had 213, 214, and 224 in Games 3, 8, and 9 and logged no less than 160 pinfalls in the six other games (189, 188, 186, 172, 161, and 188) for a total of 1,735 pinfalls and average of 191.78.

Angeles and the eventual runner-up Talavera were the only two bowlers to score at least 1,700 pinfalls in the qualifier. Talavera posted 200-plus pinfalls twice (221 and 217 in Games 2 and 7), but his 126 in Game 1 was the biggest setback, as he ended up with 1,710 pinfalls, 25 short of Angeles’ total. Talavera averaged 190 as he recorded 180, 191, 195, 198, 193, and 189 in the five other games.

Talavera and Angeles were then joined in the stepladder finals by Raphael Zapanta, Roger De Guzman, and Simon Manacop. Zapanta was ranked third in the qualifier after collecting 1,667 pinfalls (148, 202, 183, 181, 159, 160, 234, 212, and 189) and averaging 185.22, while De Guzman came in at fourth with his 1,658 total (154, 203, 197, 136, 219, 144, 211, 213, and 181) and average of 184.22. Manacop nailed the last slot to the stepladder finals after earning 1,644 pinfalls, just eight pinfalls ahead of Raul Dumapit. Manacop got off to a strong start with his 211 pinfalls in Game 1, but had a roller-coaster performance in the last eight games (150, 185, 157, 184, 231, 172, 199, and 155) to drop his average to 181.78.

In the stepladder finals, the No. 3 to 5 finishers played in the elimination game, while Angeles gained an automatic finals berth, and Talavera had an outright semis seat. De Guzman went on to survive the elimination as his 178 pinfalls bested the 162 of Manacop and 146 of Zapanta.

Up next for De Guzman was Talavera and this time the former’s upset axe did not work, as the latter hammered his foe, 247-153, to gain a return trip to the finals. Talavera marched into last year’s title game against eventual winner Rusty Musca, but lost right in Game 1 of the finals. Against Angeles, Talavera boosted his chances to avoid another bridesmaid finish, as he took Game 1, 232-200. However, Angeles, who had a twice-to-beat edge in the finale, came back in the deciding Game 2 with a close 225-223 win to spoil Talavera’s bid.

Meanwhile, the SBA Budweiser King and Queen of the Lanes’ July roll-offs will be held this Sunday and Monday.