Local bowlers compete in HK

Three of the CNMI’s top bowlers competed in the 20th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships held this past week at the Hong Kong Bowling City in the former Crown Colony’s Kowloon Bay.

While Simon Manacop, Raymond Zapanta, and Francisco “Kitz” Barja failed to advance to the Masters Finals, the three managed respectable scores in the competition that featured events in singles, doubles, trios, and teams.

All four events are combined for the all-important All-Events standings and the CNMI’s bets finished 83rd (Manacop), 89th (Zapanta), and 104th (Barja) overall.

Manacop came away with a score of 1,084 in the singles, 1,144 in the doubles 1,179 in the trios, and 1,148 in the team to finish with 4,555 pinfalls, good for an average of 189.79. Manacop is an officer at the Department of Public Safety.

Zapanta, for his part, rolled a 1,058 in the singles, 1,195 in the doubles before concluding his appearance with a 1,146 in the trios and a 1,115 in the team for a grand total of 4,514, or 188.08 average. Zapanta is a student at the Northern Marianas College.

Barja, meanwhile, managed 946 in the singles, 972 in the doubles, 1,087 in the trios, and 1,111 in the team during his off-island competition debut. The Micronesian Brokers, Inc. general manager went on to total 4,116 pinfalls, which equates to a 171.5 average per outing.

Chester King and Raoul Miranda of the Philippines actually topped the Men’s All-Events category with totals of 5,534 (230.58 average) and 5,444 (226.83), respectively. United Arab Emirates’ Hussain All-Suwaidi finished third with his 5,366 and 223.58 average.

In the Masters competition, Adrian Ang of Malaysia and Choi Jin-A of Korea won the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.

Ang totaled 458 in the two-game finale against countryman Zulmaran Zulfiki, while Choi topped teammate Gye Min-Young, 472-445, in the women’s championship.

Other division champions saw Korea and Malaysia retain the men’s and women’s team of 5 titles, the Philippines and Korea won the trios, Hong Kong and Malaysia win the men’s and women’s doubles, and Korea’s Choi Ki-Bong and Hwang Sun-Ok win the men’s and women’s singles, respectively.

A total of 168 bowlers—107 men and 61 women—from 19 countries took part in the 20th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships, which started last July 5 and concluded last July 11.