Top teams struggled to grab the top spot in the team standings during the tension-filled mid-positioning round of the Interbank Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh (ITBR) league being played Monday nights at the Universal Bowling Center in Riyadh.

Riyad Bank successfully captured the No. 1 spot after defeating league leader Alinma Bank in three games 340-110 in a result that dropped Alinma third place.

Banque Saudi Fransi came close at second place after it crushed Saudi Hollandi Bank also in three games 340-140 while Shabab SABB demolished SAMA-Abana to be in fourth place with a remarkable 571-0.

Coming from behind, Riyad Bank steadily passed the top three teams by producing excellent games for three consecutive weeks. Ronald Cruz, the second best bowler of the week, burned the lanes with his 843 four-game series. He was supported by Ric Singson, James Frizzle and Sonny Alviso who rolled 737, 736 and 694, while captain Zohair Oqilan tallied 542 in three games. Freddie Solomon had 194.

For Alinma Bank, captain Jojo de Silva never gave up till they snatched the fourth game from their opponent. He led the team with 794 with Jerry Barce on 768 and Abdulrahman Ahmed 708. Rainier Torres, Willie Bondoc, Angelo Train and Julius Alfonso contributed 345, 334, 311 and 301.

Shabab SABB was in full strength and produced a record-breaking performance of 571 points. They erased all-time ITBR records and was crowned Team of the Week. Southpaw Arnold Jesena narrowly missed a perfect 300 during the third game. He tallied all-time high series of 955 (200, 267, 299 and 189) and deservedly won Bowler of the Week honors. Captain Ahmed Al-Qarqoush shared the limelight when he rolled 822 followed by Luis Bonguit (759), Gerry Austria (751) and Jaffer Al-Khatiri (722). The team now holds all individual and team records.

SAMA-Abana was without two players in the lineup and went home empty handed. The combined output of the trio of Jun Macarandan, captain Teody Zulaybar and Bernie Torres (808, 726 and 711) was not sufficient to match the performance of their opponent.

BSF captain Jun Bantug fielded his best players simultaneously in a tactical approach to win the first three games of the match against Saudi Hollandi Bank. He powered his team to victory with 827 four-game series. Dawood Sereno, Noel Morales and Edwin Timango assisted Bantug to with rounds of 721, 706 and 704. Yusuf Fernandez tallied 415 in two games while Joseph Adao and AJ Bonifacio rolled 171 and 154.

SHB claimed the fourth game behind the combined efforts of Gerry Ayonon, Clem Salazar and captain Greg Antonio who rolled four-game series of 781, 724 and 702. Rommel Calungcagin and Arnel Bernabe tallied 574 and 501 in three games while Val Baraquio and Jil Hembra had 177 and 154.

The match between BSF-CBG and Saudi Investment Bank ended in a 2-2 draw (214-210). SAIB team captain Dong Calub was consistently at his best carding 823. He was assisted by Jonathan Avenido and Eddison Austria who rolled 648 and 638. Veteran Joey Salem, Ed Robillos and Gil Catulay tallied 565, 549 and 413.

In BSF-CBG, the excellent games of Guilbert Masias, Alfred Estrada, Art Bumatay and Abet Minosa produced the much needed output (771, 752, 728 and 722 respectively) to level the match against their opponent at 2-all. Dennis Buot and captain and Ken Hechanova rolled 363 and 285.

The level of competition shifts to higher gear with the second round and all the way to the semifinal and final games.

Standings (8th Week): 1. Riyad Bank 2,339 points 2. BSF 2,291 3. Alinma Bank 2,128 4. Shabab SABB 1,804 5. SHB 1,625 6. SAMA-Abana 1,040 7. BSF-CBG 920 8. SAIB 574