Saipan Bowling 101

The Saipan Bowling Association, formerly known as CBA, shares the following information about bowling on the island.

Bowling Alleys

There are two bowling centers, the Saipan Bowling Center (SBC) in San Jose and the Capital Bowling Center (CBC) in Garapan across Garapan Elementary School.

SBC is an institution in the community having been in operation for over 29 years. It has 12 bowling lanes and there are nightly bowling leagues from Tuesday to Saturday starting at 6:30pm. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday are for mixed leagues. Thursday is exclusively for women while Friday is for men. There is also a second mixed league on Tuesday nights organized by the Korean bowling association on Saipan.

CBC has been in operation for over four years. It has 16 bowling lanes with a computerized scoring system so there’s no problem even if you don’t know how to score. They also have a pair of lanes with “bumpers” that can be pulled out over the side gutters so kids who are just starting to bowl can have more fun. There are two night mixed leagues at CBC every Thursday and Friday. Interested bowlers need not worry. CBC has a lot of “house” balls and bowling shoes. Just don’t forget to bring your own socks.

Number of Bowlers and Types of Competition

Based on the records of the seven bowling leagues from Tuesday to Saturday, there are about 411 regular league bowlers on Saipan-132 women, 263 men, 16 youth bowlers. All the leagues are bowled “With Handicap” so that seasoned and new bowlers can all join or form teams and enjoy fair competition. A bowling league normally last 24 weeks or about six months.

In addition to bowling leagues, there are also several tournaments each year. There are masters and bowler of the year tournaments for the serious bowlers, and there are classified tournaments where bowlers are being grouped based on their current game averages. There are modified tournaments that involves luck and fun rather than skill like No Tap and Crazy “8” tournaments.

For this year, SBA is committed to organize the participation of Saipan bowlers in the Asian Intercity Tournament in Korea on November, the annual Saipan-Guam (SBC-UDC) Masters on October, and the annual Saipan-Guam Youth Friendship tournament on June. Hopefully, SBA will also plan for Saipan’s participation in prestigious international tournaments like the Asian Bowling Championships and the World FIQ Championships.

Recent Bowling Highlights

League Champions

• Tuesday Adam & Eve League at SBC, ended on February 20 with Team O’DOULS, sponsored by Budweiser, and Team JET Holdings, sponsored by JET Holdings Corp., emerging as co-champions.

• Friday Night League at SBC, ended on February 16 with Team JET Holdings, sponsored by JET Holdings Corp., emerging as champion.

Outstanding Performances

• On February 8, 2001 Rommel Crisostomo, who had a 179 pins average in the CBC-PBA Thursday Night League rolled an outstanding 702 series based on games of 213,277, and 212.

• On February 23, 2001, Danny Robles, a veteran bowler who had an average of 186 pins in the CBC-PBA Friday Night League rolled games of 224,288, and 193 for a 705 series.

Off-island Youth Competition

On February 22 to 25, 2001, 11 Saipan youth bowlers competed in the “Guam Youth Pepsi 2001 International Classic Tournament.” It was an FIQ (International Bowling Federation) sanctioned tournament. About 45 youth bowlers from Guam, Saipan, and the Philippines joined. Some bowlers from Guam and the Philippines who are members of their National Bowling Teams made it a very tough competition. Nevertheless, some Saipan youth bowlers had very impressive performances.

After the 16-game elimination round, five Saipan bowlers made it to the top 16 as follows:

Position: No. 3

Name: Raymond Zapanta

School: Hopwood Junior High

Grand Total w/ Handicap: 3,149

Scratch Average: 188.81

Position: No. 5

Name: Jonathan Hensley

School: Marianas High

Grand Total w/ Handicap: 3,106

Scratch Average: 189.13

Position: No. 6

Name: Michael Yusi

School: Hopwood Junior High

Grand Total w/ Handicap: 3,064

Scratch Average: 183.50

Position: No.13

Name: Alex Castro Jr.

School: NMC

Grand Total w/ Handicap: 2,948

Scratch Average: 176.25

Position: No. 16

Name: Risa Cabigao

School: Marianas Baptist Academy

Grand Total w/ Handicap: 2,897

Scratch Average: 173.06

Michael Yusi qualified in the eight-game semi-final round for the top 16 bowlers, eventually placing fourth with a 192.71 pins average. That enabled him to compete in the match play round. Jay Leon Guerrero of Guam won the tournament and pocketed $2,000 and Cecilia Yap of the Philippines placed second and went home with $1,000.