RIYADH: Another year, another winner. The Saudi British Bank (SABB) bowling team grabbed the championship trophy from defending champion Riyad Bank at the recently concluded 2015 Interbank Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh (ITBR) tournament at the Universal Bowling Center here.

It was a dream match of the season and a repeat of last year’s finals. This time, the dominance of SABB during the qualifying rounds opened a 563 points advantage that Riyad Bank failed to overcome. Despite losing the final four games (556-190), SABB lifted the Championship trophy at the end of the fourth game, winning by 197 points.

The five-man team of Ahmed Qarqoush failed to match the performance of their opponent scoring only 190 bonus points all throughout the four games. With a comfortable point advantage at the start of the game, captain Ahmed tallied a 784 four-game series followed by Gerry Austria (772), Mohammed Abu Alsaud (760), Jaffer Al Kathiri (750) and Luis Bonguit (674). Absent from the roll was Class A player Arnold Jesena.

Riyad Bank never gave up and made a last ditch effort to defend its title. They produced a superb four-game win with a huge output of 556 points but fell short to finish in second place. Southpaw Ronald dela Cruz burned the lanes with 862 four-game series. He was supported by equally brilliant performance of team captain Zohair Oqilan, who rolled 809, Freddie Solomon (791), James Frizzle (770) and Sonny Alviso (747). Other team members include Eyad Madani Dhahi, Bader Al-Marzooq, Ali H. Al-Mutawa, Ric Singson, Mixi Lechuga and Ian Choco.

The match for third and fourth between Alinma Aspire and BSF ended in a 2-2 draw (354-290 points). However, it was Alinma Aspire that overpowered former champion Banque Saudi Fransi (420-190 points) to retain its previous year’s third position while BSF settled for fourth place.

Alinma United almost blanked Saudi Hollandi Bank 398-50 but it was SHB grabbed the fifth place while Alinma United dropped to sixth position.

The Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) team captained by Eddison Austria has retained their seventh position and was presented with the annual Sportsmanship award.

The champion, runners-up and special awardees received handsome trophies and cash prizes during the awards night recently at UBC. Guest sponsor, Sabahattin Ates, Corporate Agreement & Marketing Manager; and Hassan Javaid, Agreement & Marketing Representative of Turkish Airlines, provided a return air ticket (Riyadh/Istanbul) to the lucky raffle draw winner. SAIB also donated consolation raffle prizes for the event.

On behalf of the league committee, Bobby Ting, chairman; Froy Garcia, finance director; Teody Zulaybar, statistician; all team captains and participating banks, ITBR thanked everyone for another successful year.

List of individual/team awardees:

Clash of the Titans (Top 24):

Titan King – Ronald dela Cruz (Riyad Bank)

First Runner-up – Koko Torres (Alinma Aspire)

Second Runner-up – Mohammed Abu Alsaud (SABB)

Consolation Prize awarded to Teody Zulaybar (Alinma United)

Team League Records:

High Game Scratch, High Game with Handicap & Series with Handicap - Alinma Aspire

High Series Scratch - SABB

Individual League Records:

High Game Scratch – Gerry Austria (SABB)

High Game with Handicap – Bernie Torres (Alinma United)

High Game Scratch & High Game with Handicap – Ahmed Qarqoush (SABB)

High Individual Average Bowler – Ahmed Al Qarqoush (SABB)

Most Improved Bowler – Gil Catulay (SAIB)

Elite Bowlers:

- Arnold Jesena – SABB (258)

- Ronald dela Cruz – Riyad Bank (261)

- Jaffer Al Kathiri – SABB (253)

- Jun Bantug – BSF (256)

- Abdulrahman Ahmed – Alinma Aspire (257)

- Ahmed Al-Qarquosh – SABB (255,269)

- Abet Minoza – BSF (255)

- Bernie Torres – Alinma United (278)

- Gerry Austria – SABB (255, 279)

- Lito Tolentino – Alinma Aspire (279)

- Rainer Torres – Alinma Aspire (254, 258)

Final team standings: 1. SABB (5,766), 2. Riyad Bank (5,579), 3. Alinma Aspire (5,326) 4. BSF (4,556), 5. SHB (3,660), 6. Alinma United (3,197), 7. (2,545), 7. SAIB (2,764)