Talavera is king of season opener

Robert Talavera opened the new season just like the way he closed the previous one.

The Saipan Bowling Center employee won his second straight Pepsi King of the Lanes Tenpin Bowling Tournament at the Saipan Bowling Center on Monday.

Talavera’s run at the January crown was actually done the night before as he was nothing short of impressive Sunday to finish with a tournament-best 219.75 average.

The veteran kegler began his push the right way as he left his mark on 214 pins in his first game. He slowed down a bit and managed just 193 pins in the second game, but came back to life in his third game as he bruised 279 pins. He then closed with another 193 for a total of 879 pins.

Talavera returned Monday night in hopes of improving his mark but finished with just 773 pins. Nonetheless, no one was able to surpass his Sunday total.

“I think it was just luck again,” he said shortly after receiving his prize. “I didn’t feel good while I was bowling, but it turned out okay and I’m happy with that.”

Jon Eparwa and Edgar Marquez followed to cap the top three, and like Talavera, posted their scores on Sunday.

Eparwa got off to a rough start and had a pedestrian 183 in his opening game, but recovered well with 225 pins in his second game. He continued his hot streak by knocking down 224 pins and closed strong with 226 pins in his fourth game for a total of 858 pins and an average of 214.5 pins per game.

For his part, Marquez placed third with a total of 830 pins and a 207.5 average. He had a decent start as his ball brought down 204 pins in his first game. He improve by 10 pins in his second game (214) and continued to sizzle with 223 pins in the third game before running low on fuel for a pedestrian 189 in the fourth game.

With the finish, Talavera took home $150 while Eparwa and Marquez pocketed $70 and $40.

Talavera’s brother, Edgar, placed fourth with 808 pins to win $35 while Glenn Garde and Jon Hensley finished in fifth and sixth with 804 and 786. Garde took home $30 and Hensley $25.

Chester Bai and Ronald Epan also won $20 and $15 in cash prizes for finishing in seventh and eighth with scores of 780 and 777.

The tournament is the first of 12 monthly tournaments this year. It is sponsored by Pacific Trading Co. and organized by the Saipan Bowling Association. It culminates with a season-ending championship tournament to determine the overall champion. All monthly winners qualify for the year-ender contest.