Robert leads individual awardees

Robert Talavera won three of the five individual awards, including the High Average plum, in the recently concluded 33rd season of the PBA-Budweiser Saturday Night League held at the Saipan Bowling Center.

Talavera posted the season’s best average after norming a whopping 201.10 pinfalls a game while playing for the eventual second runner-up team, SBC/J’s Restaurant.

For the season, the 36-year-old employee of SBC knocked down 12,669 pins in 63 games. He rolled a game high of 279 and a series high of 715.

Aside from the High Average category, the Pampanga, Philippines native also topped the High Game Scratch and High Series Scratch categories after knocking down 279 and 715 pinfalls, respectively.

Jess “Kuya JR” Rebusada, of second place team Micronesian Brokers, Inc., finished second in the High Game Scratch with a 277, while Talavera’s teammate Alex Cacdac came in second in the High Series Scratch with a 711.

The other three individual plums were cornered by Chester Bai, lady bowler Percy Omechalang, and Glenn Garde.

Bai of Verizon was No. 1 in the High Game with Handicap after posting a score of 299. He was followed by Rebusada who rolled a 284.

Omechalang, for her part, fired a 735 to rule the High Series with Handicap. SBC/J’s Restaurant teammates Cacdac and Mark Halstead finished tied in second place with identical scores of 735.

Garde, for his part, was named Most Improve Bowler after the Mama’s Boy stalwart improved his average from a season ago by a whopping 19.73 pinfalls. He also finished behind Talavera in the High Average race after norming 195.73 for the season.

In the team special awards, SBC/J’s Restaurant won half of the four awards at stake. It took home the High Game Scratch after rolling 1,124 and the High Game with Handicap after knocking down 1,172.

Mama’s Boyz and PBA-Budweiser Saturday Night League champion Fun & Games finished second place in the two categories. Mama’s Boyz came away with 1,078 pinfalls in the High Game Scratch, while Fun & Games wound up with 1,134 in the High Game with Handicap.

The two second-place teams, however, rebounded nicely in the other two categories, as Mama’s Boyz topped the High Series Scratch category with 3,121 pinfalls followed by SBC/J’s Restaurant with its 3,089.

Fun & Games, for its part, ruled the High Series with Handicap with its 3,316 pinfalls followed by Mama’s Boyz, which totaled 3,283.