24 to vie for King of the Lanes title

The 2008 Budweiser King of the Lanes title will be at stake this Sunday when Saipan Bowling Association holds the season-finale roll-offs at the Saipan Bowling Center.

Twenty bowlers will battle for the coveted title with the winner joining Queen of the Lanes Emi Williams and Bing Prince of the Lanes Zack Cruz to the royal court.

Williams took the Queen of the Lanes tiara after besting five other female keglers. She defeated Yho Villavicencio in the finals, 179-149, last week. Others who vied for the crown, but advanced only into the step-ladder finals were Diane Camacho (third), Ron Cal (fourth), Gigi Zapanta (fifth), and Elena Soll (sixth).

Cruz prevailed over Leanne Yarobwemal in the finals, 188- 118, to claim the Bing Prince of the Lanes plum. Cruz moved a step away from clinching the season-finale roll-offs when he downed J.D. Torres in the semis, 174-165, while Yarobwemal pulled off an upset over nine-time monthly winner Raphael Zapanta, 199-153, in the other semis duel.

This Sunday’s final roll-off for the King of the Lanes title are open to the Top 36 bowlers in the SBA ranking system, but only 24 earned ranking points last season.

Raymond Zapanta led in the rankings with his 1,664 points. In second place was Dannie Robles with 1,521 points, followed by Richard Leong (1,432), Simon Manacop (1,429), and Robert Talavera (1,313).

Round off the Top 12 were Raymond Angeles (1,236), Raul Dumapit (1,146), Kitz Barja (1,008), Percy Omechelang (1,000), Paul Pangelinan (785), Jon Eparwa (708), Lito Teodoro (648).

Others who qualified for this Sunday’s tournament are Alex Cacdac (485), Ronald Epan (458), Ador Dimaano (416), Efren Cacdac (379), Nick Gutierrez (335), Jon Hensley (248), Jorge Soledad (229), Ferdee Generoso (185), Roger Vales (180), Ray Cruz (127), Chester Bai (96), and Totie Limpin (16).

In the original format, the Top 12 keglers automatically advanced to the nine-game roll-off, which will determine the Top 6 who will move into the step-ladder finals.

Bowlers in the 13th to 36th will compete in a three-game roll-off with the Top 12 finishers joining the Top 12 (in the ranking points) in the nine-game elimination.

But since only 24 earned rankings points, all of them will play in the nine-game roll-offs with the Top 6 moving into the step-ladder finals.

In the step-ladder finals, the pairings for the elimination game will be No. 3 vs. No. 6 (Game 1) and No. 4 vs. No. 5. (Game 2). Winners of the two elimination matches will then advance to the semifinals with the victor of Game 2 facing the No. 2 seed player, and Game 1 winner challenging the No. 1 finisher (in 9-game game roll-offs). Winners of the semis matches will then square off in the finals.