RIYADH, 15 February — Promising bowler Tony Bonifacio helped Mavericks maintained their strong pace to keep an almost insurmountable 492 points lead at the top of the table of the Marhaba Bowling tournament being played at the FAL Bowling Center every Saturday.

Bonifacio outpaced all bowlers to claim the coveted Bowler of the Week citation of excellence, beating the Hunk’s Romy Matic who garnered a total of 817 pinfalls against Bonifacion’s winning total of 821 pinfalls. Bonifacio had a handicap of 29 per game. He went on to claim the award from games of 169, 191, 147 & 198 in a match where the Mavericks of captain Ben Carriaga also claimed the Team of the Award as their invincibility continued to grow each passing week.

The Mavericks claimed 200 winpoints from the defaulting Sarawat Strikers and added some 90 bonus points from their team efforts of 873, 943, 973 & 959, missing 30 bonus points in game 1. The intact five from the Mavericks who played the entire 4 games were Yusuf Fernandez, Ben Carriaga, Gil Hembra, Freddie Solomon aside the week’s star Bonifacio.

Fernandez (797) and Hembra (773) gave the best back-up support to Bonifacio’s 821 as the Mavericks rolled the best series of 3748 pins to stamp their class in the tourney sponsored by Marhaba Phone Card.

Meanwhile, the Hunks, who have the edge over the other contenders in challenging the Mavericks for the title garnered 210 points from 150 winpoints and 60 bonus points as they met resistance from Al Humaidi Trading of Jess Gutierrez.

The Hunks prevailed 3-1 but were denied a 4-0 shutout when Al Humaidi surprised them in game 2 (906-887).

The Hunks’ top scorer was Romy Matic who rolled a superb series of 190, 199, 175 & 193 enroute to his 817 finish including 15 handicaps per game.

The Hunks won game 1 (905-781), game 3 (895-840) & game 4 (916-902) but were derailed in game 2 when Neil Echavarria of Al Humaidi Trading lead his team to a 906-887 win by his 188 scratch.

Playing behind Matic’s leadership were team captain Rod Basilio and Joel Alegre who rolled 3 games each. The all-star cast of the Mavericks was completed by Joe Mari de Luna, Boy Galang, Edgar Buenaventur, Dick Montano, Arnold Bellen & Totie Dapo. Among the group, Montano is a one-time Bowler of the Week awardee.

At no. 2, the Hunks are looking at a huge 492 margin from the Mavericks while Alley Bang Bang of Rolly Manalang who are knows for their big surprises are at No. 3.

The day’s second best team output of 230 was registered by MIB of Beltran Tatoy. MIB, a one-time Team of the Week awardee claimed 200 winpoints from Shakba but managed only 30 bonus from their lone 900 plus game (950) in the 4-game match. Still at No. 8, the MIB (Mga Ilongo Bowlers) squad of Fel delos Santos, Beltran Tatoy himself, Mario Temana, Mark Corrales, Hannibal Geronimo & Ricky Bunao will

have to explode in the next weeks to fight for the title. Tatoy himself led his steam in scoring on that day with his 728 series in 4 games.

In a pair of exciting match for the day, McDonald and Saudi Oger engaged each other in a fierce 2-2 draw, the same score registered by Alley Bang Bang & Schneider Electric as they outbowled each other in another tight encounter.

The 4th placed McDonald of Toffee San Jose relied on Norman Espejo and Ramil Glorioso to beat Saudi Oger in games 2 & 3 (864-742 & 826-760). Saudi Oger of Nestor Mauyao retaliated behind Boy Caparal Jr., Manny Tuzon & Mario Reyes to even the scores in the game 3& 4 (897-869 & 939-864).

Schneider Electric of Marvin Arocena used a 113-62 handicap edge to overpower Alley Bang Bang in games 2 & 3 while losing games 1 & 4 to draw their match at 2-2.

The 7th placed Schneider Electric banked on Arocena, Salvador Mirando, Roger Sta. Maria, Justine Lawas & Ed Calzo while 3rd placed ABB on the intact team of Manalang, Dante Prado, JR Bagon, Clem Salazar & Richard Oczon.

Unicon and Tsamba Konnection, two strong teams threatening to rock the top standings, boast of the top 2 players in the Elite Top 50 Bowlers. Unicorn’s Jhing Sahagun is the best of the best at No. 1 (184.50) while Tsamba’s Benjie Presto is No. 2 (180.67).