RIYADH: Nerve-racking mid-positioning matches concluded the first round of the Interbank Tenpin Bowling Tournament at the InterContinental Hotel Bowling Center. The second-round and final leg of the tournament will run until the yearend, giving the struggling teams all of 11 weeks to catch up for the most prestigious awards.
Saudi Hollandi Bank sealed the No. 1 spot closely followed by defending champion Banque Saudi Fransi. PNB Unified was third while ANB-SAMA and Saudi Investment Bank completed the magic five teams.
It was a rewarding first-round for PNB Unified of Usman Navarro, not only for improving its spot in the team standings but also for posting its third Team of the Week honors with a victory over Saudi Investment Bank 340-80. Veteran Ben Torrefiel inspired his Unified teammates, tallying a team high series of 797. Equally playing excellent games were Sonny Alviso (783), Allan dela Rosa (764), Jun Evangelista (722) and Mixi Lechuga (643).
SAIB managed to win only one game. Captain Dong Calub was the highest scorer with 748. He was assisted by Ed Robillos (743), Pido Villarosa (668) and Mike Benito (652). Danny Leocadio rolled 551 while Boy Rogel had 194.
ANB-SAMA stopped Bank Albilad’s winning streak 295-85. The first two games were very close with Game 2 ending in a draw. The last two games came easy with ANB-SAMA blanking its opponent. Highest scorer was straight-bowler Clem Guelas who took home the Bowler of the Week award. He fired a four-game series of 806. He was assisted by Bernie Torres (760) and captain Teody Zulaybar (704). Jun Macanrandan rolled 545 while Freddie Solomon had 498 and Jun Bolocboloc 381.
Rookie Roland Garcia was the top-scorer at Bank Albilad with 760. Team captain James Frizzle, Fahad Al Heza, Roy Rosario and Sam Alinsod contributed 739, 721, 701 and 657 in that order.
The match between the top two contenders ended in a 2-2 draw. However, Banque Saudi Fransi edged Saudi Hollandi Bank 223-160 when they managed to earn 63 bonus points during the fourth game with a high output of 1,013 pinfalls and trail league leader SHB by only 159 points.
The trio of AJ Bonifacio, captain Jun Bantug and Yusuf Fernandez carded 757, 752 and 750. They were assisted by Jess Bersamin and Edwin Timango who tallied 566 and 646 while Dannu Encinas and Noel Morales had 172 and 157.
In other matches, SABB Securities Ltd outplayed sister team SABB Amanah EasyBuy 160-130. The exciting match ended in a 2-2 draw with SABB Securities prevailing after posting a 30-bonus points in the second game. Ken Guevarra registered his tournament best 720 while Luis Bonguit tallied 708.
Meantime, the ITBR family did its share in alleviating misfortunes of “kababayans” back home who were victims of recent twin typhoon that hit the Philippines. The cash donations of the league members were delivered personally to ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. (Sagip Kapamilya) and GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc. Several boxes of relief goods were also delivered to Philippine Embassy in Riyadh for immediate shipment to Manila courtesy of Mohammed Al Yateem, station manager of Gulf Air Central Region.
