Filipino student Niña De Vera did the Riyadh bowling community proud when she clinched a historic double victory including the most prestigious Masters event title in the 17th GCC All Filipino Bowling Tour recently in Manama, Bahrain.

De Vera, a 15-year old fourth year high school student at Future Generation Philippine International School (FGPIS) in Riyadh,

set a new record as the youngest lady bowler to become the Masters and singles event champion in the 17-year history of the GCC event that began as a spinoff of the Palarong Pilipino, an OWWA program for the non-distressed OFWs in the Middle East, in 1997.

Also, De Vera finished 1st runner-up in the ladies all events and was easily the biggest individual winner in the tournament held Aug. 27-30 at Funland Center Bahrain. De Vera is part of the Riyadh delegation represented by the UFTBR-FBGR (United Filipino Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh-Filipino Bowling Group in Riyadh).

The regional event had attracted 64 ladies and 120 men, all veterans and top flight bowlers from GCC. The AFBT is a yearly event hosted on rotation by the GCC countries promoting bowling as sports activity and fostering the values of teamwork, sportsmanship, friendship and camaraderie.

The top 24, after scores for team, doubles and singles events were totaled, moved on to play further eight games to determine the top three finalists for the centerpiece Masters event.

The top 3 lady qualifiers that advanced to the Masters stepladder final were: De Vera from Riyadh, Melody Osano from Qatar, and Michelle Avila from Kuwait.

In the first match, Avila defeated Osano 170-150 to face De Vera in the championship match where De Vera has a twice-to-beat privilege as the No. 1 finalist.

Avila dragged De Vera to a winner-take-all finale after winning their first match by 2 pins when De Vera, needing a mark on the 10th frame to claim the title, got a split of 4-8 pins instead.

In the decisive match, De Vera showed poise beyond her years, shooting 218 to Avila’s 205.

Avila unleashed a double up front against De Vera’s spare-strike. De Vera was behind until frame 6 by 1 mark before she exploded a turkey on the 7-9 frame making the match a 1-pin difference. De Vera closed out at 218 with Avila needing to punch out to have a chance at victory. However, Avila did a spare on the 10th frame for 205 handing De Vera the title.

Scores summary:

Ladies Masters top qualifiers — 1. Niña De Vera (UFTBR-FBGR) 196.38 average 2. Melody Osano (AFTC) 195.50 3. Michelle Avila (PBAK) 194.00 4. Uella Marical (DFBC) 193.13 5. Joylyn Sta. Barbara (ADFBC) 192.00 6. Noora Sultan (FCTB) 185.75

Ladies singles event ranking — 1. Niña De Vera (UFTBR-FBGR) 198.17 2. Jeannette Cerbito (FTBJ) 190.17 3. Uella Marcial (DFBC) 189.33 4. Joylyn Sta. Barbara (ADFBC) 186.83 5. Melody Osano (AFTC) 185.83 6. Noora Sultan (FCTB) 183.17

Ladies all events ranking — 1. Uella Marcial (DFBC) 198.36 2. Niña De Vera (UFTBR-FBGR) 190.14 3. Joylyn Sta. Barbara (ADBFBC) 189.5 4. Jeanette Cerbito (FTBJ) 185.21 5. Noora Sultan (FCTB) 183.93 6. May Lourdes Tumbagahon (FTBJ) 182.79