Calling all top guns for May Masters bowling

Another golden opportunity for bowlers to stamp their name into the record books is nearing as the Saipan Bowling Association hosts another edition of the CNMI May Masters Bowling Tournament.

The 23rd staging of the three-day annual event kicks off this Friday at the Saipan Bowling Center and will feature top guns from the Commonwealth and Guam.

Winners will be crowned in the singles, doubles, and team events by the time the tournament concludes Sunday.

Meanwhile, SBA reiterated that qualification to bowl in the masters event will be determined by the all-events score, which is the total score of a bowler in the singles, doubles, and team events.

Only the top 36 men bowlers and top 24 women bowler will advance to masters play. A total of 16 games will be played in the men’s masters and 12 in the women’s masters.

The SBA also stressed that all bowlers who qualified for the masters must pay the all-events fee of $10 before completing all three events, otherwise will not be considered in the masters.

Also, if a bowler rolls off several times for any of the three events, only the score of the first try will be considered in computing the all-events score.

Registration is set to begin at 1:45pm this Friday. Male players are required to pay a $30 fee, while female bowlers pay $20 to play in each category. Males will also pay $50 to compete in the masters event, while women pay a fee of $40.

Saipan youth bowlers are also welcome to participate and have a cheaper fee of $20 per event and $35 for the masters.

The tournament will come to a close with an awards banquet on May 29 at Shirley’s Coffee Shop.

SBA president Jerry Tan is extending an invitation to female bowlers, especially from the Thursday Night Group of Lucy Guerrero and Korean players.

Meanwhile, SBA credited the longevity of the tournament to Juan S. Tenorio of JET Holdings and the SBC; MARPAC and Budweiser, and the Marianas Visitors Authority.

“Those establishments have been the principal sponsors for probably the last 20 years or more,” SBA said.

Also, SBA acknowledged the generous support of Tan and his group of companies, which enable the tournament to continue “even with the bad economy.”

Last year, Mark “The Shark” Halstead rallied to beat fellow lefty Ronald Epan in the masters event while Diana Camacho triumphed in the women’s masters.

Halstead overcame a hot start by Epan and his own early struggles to win the men’s championship. He rolled a total of 3,155 pinfalls to beat Epan, who was just 43 pins behind at 3,112.

Camacho, meanwhile, knocked down 2,123 pins, just 29 ahead of second place Rizza Hensley’s 12-game total of 2,094.

Halstead earned a cool $1,000 for his masters win, while Epan and Jonathan Duenas of Guam settled for $600 and $300, respectively.

Camacho took home $400 for the masters win to add to her $125 earnings in the all-events. Hensley pocketed $250 for finishing second to Camacho, while Guam’s Felymar Mandapat and Becky Reyes came in third and fourth and took home $100 and $50, respectively.

In all, last year’s May Masters awarded close to $7,000 in prize money during the three-day tenpin bowling tournament.