Mersai, Talavera on a roll

Kathy Mersai, left, and Robert Talavera show their prizes for winning the Budweiser-SBA March roll-offs last Sunday at the Saipan Bowling Center. (Contributed Photo)

Robert Talavera and Kathy Mersai extended their streak in Saipan Bowling Association’s Budweiser King and Queen of the Lanes Tournament to three after winning the March roll-offs held over the weekend at the Saipan Bowling Center.
Talavera, who finished second in the opening day of the weekend tournament with his 727 pinfalls, showed consistency in Day 2 of the monthly tournament, posting 200-plus pinfalls in all four games. He started last Sunday’s roll-off with 211 pinfalls before recording 215, 246, and 216 in the last three for a four-game total of 888 pinfalls. The three-time monthly champion was the lone bowler in the men’s field to score at least 800 pinfalls and averaged 200 (222), as Day 1 leader and eventual runner-up Simon Manacop collected only 783 pinfalls in Day 2.

Manacop, who had 746 pinfalls (211, 216, 132, and 187) last Saturday to take the temporary lead, returned for the Sunday competition and had his best showing in Game 4, tallying 239 pinfalls. However, he only registered 180s in the first three games (189, 184, and 180) to settle for the runner-up honors with his 195.75 average.

Joining Talavera and Manacop in the Top 3 was Percy Omechelang, who bowled both days and had his Day 2 score (750 pinfalls) making the grade. He got off to a strong start, gathering 207 pinfalls in Game 1, but failed to sustain it after dropping to 159 pinfalls in Game 2. Omechelang went on to post 185 and 199 in the last two games for a total of 750 pinfalls and average of 187.50.

Fourteen other male bowlers joined the March roll-offs. The list includes Lito Teodoro (731), Raymond Zapanta (714), Edgar Abalos (704), Lee Wong Yon (701), Ronald Batac (701), Raymond Angeles (699), Paul Pangelinan (683), Jae Yong Kim (669), Jorge Soledad (656), Ador Dimaano (633), Raphael Zapanta (629), Tony Verdaguer (626), Ben Aizon (583), and Jerry Kaneshi (536).

In the Queen of the Lanes, Mersai duplicated Talavera’s three straight monthly wins after beating 11 other female bowlers in the weekend competition.

Mersai made a big leap, moving from fifth to first place after the two-day competition. She had only 630 pinfalls in Day 1 to fall behind Diana Camacho (703), Gloria Omechelang (660), Ron Cal (637), and Yho Villavicencio (634).

All five came back at SBC for the Sunday’s event and this time Mersai defeated her competitors after knocking down 820 pinfalls. She had the best single game score in the entire tournament (including the men’s field) after recording 264 in Game 3. Mersai’s tallied 191, 166, and 199 in the three other games to average 205.

Diane Camacho dropped to second with her Day 2 score of 735 pinfalls (178, 189, 156, and 212), while Fabie rounded out the Top 3 after earning 703 (165, 193, 168, and 144) in the second day.

Omechelang fell to fourth place, followed by Villavicencio (657), Carrie Camacho (652), Cal, Gigi Zapanta (624), Gina Sablan (620), Elena Soll (611), and Hannah Choi (607).