After a championship-winning campaign that saw it dethrone two-time defending champion Shabab SABB, Riyad Bank led winners that were feted at a fitting awards night Thursday to bring down the curtain on the 2014 Interbank Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh (ITBR) tournament held at the Universal Bowling Center here.

The champion, runners-up and special awardees received handsome trophies and cash prizes during the ceremony at the Marhaba Restaurant Banquet Hall in Riyadh. Alinma Bank provided the raffle prizes for the event.

On behalf of the league’s committee, Robert Ting – chairman, Froy Garcia – finance director, Teody Zulaybar – statistician, all team captains and the participating banks – ITBR thanked all who helped make 2014 season another successful year.

Riyad Bank had so dominated the qualifying rounds the eventual champion enjoyed a huge 653-point advantage against SABB which mounted a last-ditch effort to retain the title to no avail.

Riyad Bank team manager Froy Garcia and captain Zohair Oqilan made a crucial decision yet effective strategy by fielding their best players that swept their opponents during the fourth game of the final match.

Zohair was at his best with 219 followed by Freddie Solomon, Sonny Alviso, Ronald dela Cruz and Mixi Lechuga who tallied 186, 178, 172 and 152 respectively. Other team members include Eyad Madani Dhahi, Bader Al-Marzooq, Ali H. Al-Mutawa, James Frizzle, Ric Singson, Patrick Alviso and Rolan Garcia.

For Shabab SABB, team captain Ahmed Qarqoush managed to narrow the gap from 653 to 27 points during the semifinals and up until the third game of the finals. Their team performance during the first three games was superb and flawless as they tallied perfect win points of 200, 130 and 160 that had their challenger panicking. However, SABB’s final attempt in the fourth and last game failed as Riyad Bank bowlers proved their supremacy and took home the title with the score of 80-0. SABB settled for second place.

Southpaw Arnold Jesena and Shabab SABB team broke all ITBR records by taking home all individual and team awards. Jesena claimed the records for high game scratch/series and with handicap (299 and 955) while the team’s high game scratch/series and with handicap (1052, 1101, 3822 and 4009). Other members of the team include Jaffer Al Kathiri, Luis Bonguit, Mike Shariff and Gerry Austria and Rey Bautista.

Alinma Bank captained by Jojo de Silva and managed by ITBR Chairman Robert Ting overpowered former champion Banque Saudi Fransi (420-190 points) to retain their previous year’s third position while BSF settled for the fourth place.

In other matches, Saudi Hollandi Bank blanked SAMA-Abana (382-0) to keep the fifth place while SAMA dropped to seventh place.

BSF/CBG team captained by Ken Hechanova continue to excel every year has retained their sixth position as they blanked Saudi Investment mentored by Dong Calub (260-0). SAIB came last and was awarded with the annual Sportsmanship trophy.

The individual/team awardees:

Clash of the Titans (Top 30):

Titan King – Arnel Bernabe (Saudi Hollandi Bank)

First Runner-up – Arnold Jesena (Shabab SABB)

Second Runner-up – Jaffer AL-Kathiri (Shabab SABB)

Consolation Prize awarded to Rommel Calungcagin (Saudi Hollandi Bank)

High Individual Average Bowler – Arnold Jesena (Shabab SABB)

Most Improved Bowler – Koko Torres (SAMA-Abana)

Elite Bowlers:

- Arnold Jesena – Shabab SABB (299, 267, 256)

- Ronald dela Cruz – Riyad Bank (280)

- Sonny Alviso – Riyad Bank (278)

- Jun Bantug – Baque Saudi Fransi (258,256)

- Gerry Ayonon – Saudi Hollandi Bank (258)

- Ahmed Al-Qarquosh – Shabab SABB (252)

Final team standings: 1. Riyad Bank 5,133 points 2. Shabab-SABB 5,036 3. Alinma Bank 4,449 4. BSF 4,358 5. SHB 3,707 6. BSF-CBG 2,750 7. SAMA-Abana 2,545 , 8. SAIB 874