SBA pleased with CNMI performance at AIBC

The Saipan Bowling Association is pleased with the performance of the CNMI delegation at the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia.

During an interview yesterday, SBA president Jerry Tan expressed positive reactions, citing that the CNMI delegation has improved year after year in the international tournament.

“So far, I’m pleased,” he said. “From what I follow and what I understand, they did quite well. It is a very competitive tournament because several of the countries actually sent out their national players to compete and they are in the world level…very high standard, [but] one thing I do know is that in the last 12 months, the sport of bowling and the scoring average of the bowler [in the CNMI] has improved a lot.”

Tan explained that the local bowling scene is booming with improvement and is a lot more competitive, which in the future will play a big role in improving play against other countries.

“Even our monthly Pepsi King of the Lanes…in the old days, if you can maintain a 200 average, its probably good enough to win, but right now, to win the monthly tournament, you got to come close to maybe a 210 to 220 average. People are hitting that kind of score, and that tells me that the players are improving,” he said.

“As we continue to improve…that will make our team more competitive. So I think the performance of the CNMI team in this Intercity Championship—we participate every year—we continue to improve. Each time we go out, we get better,” he added.

The CNMI sent two teams to the competitions. Making up Team Saipan were Simon Manacop, Mark Halstead, John Santos, and Joseph Sablan. Brothers Raymond and Ruselle Zapanta joined forces with Raymond Angeles and Francisco Barja for Team Capitol Hill.

The tournament began last Wednesday and concluded yesterday at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center.

As reported earlier, Manacop led the way for the delegation, placing a respectable 26th out of 72 bowlers from around the Asia-Pacific region, finishing with 3,518 pins in 18 games over three days of work for an average of 195.44 pins per outing. He managed to break into the top 10 in the singles competition.

Santos placed 41st in the All Events standings with 3,399 pins for an average of 188.83;Halstead knocked down a total of 3,186 pins; while Sablan left his mark on a total of 3,102 pins.

Meanwhile, Raymond Zapanta posted the third-best total score among CNMI players with 3,306 pins for 53rd place.

Barja managed to hit 3,238 pins while Angeles marked up 3,090 pins. Ruselle Zapanta left his mark on 2,973 pins.

All participants were hosted with a farewell banquet last night.

“It is not easy to capture any medal because you’re competing with world-class bowlers,” Tan said. “They have excellent facility, national coach, and play bowling everyday under proper training. That’s what we’re up against so it’s not going to be easy competing with them, but we continue to improve and I can see that in the local tournament results.”

The CNMI delegation was also accompanied by manager and coach Ross Zapanta.

The tournament is officially sanctioned by the International Bowling Federation, the World Tenpin Bowling Association, and the Asian Bowling Federation-the worldwide governing bodies of tenpin bowling.