Manacop breaks into singles top 10 at AIBC

Local bowler Simon Manacop of Team Saipan was on a roll Wednesday and finished in the top 10 of the men’s singles competition of the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Manacop, who captured the Pepsi King of the Lanes crown twice this year, posted the 10th best total score after bruising 1,271 pins in the six games he played in at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center for an impressive average of 211.83 pins per game.

The 26-year-old Department of Public Safety officer began his charge with a 202 in his first game, and followed it up with a better performance as he knocked down 220 pins in the second game.

Manacop continued to hit over the 200-mark with a 203 in the third game before going on a hotter streak and finishing with 234 pins in his fourth game. After a pedestrian 192 in his fifth game, Manacop bounced back and closed on a high note with a 220.

As of yesterday evening, Manacop was in 22nd place in the All Events standings with 2,374 pins to his name, averaging 197.83 pins per outing.

After his hot start in the singles, Manacop cooled off while competing in the doubles category, breaking over the 200-pinfall mark just once and finishing with a total of 1,103 pins in six games. He teamed with veteran Mark “The Shark” Halstead, who knocked down 1,055 pins to finish in 31st place in the competition with a combined total of 2,158 pins.

Currently leading the All Events standings is Ryan Lalisang of Jakarta, who posts an average of 222.83 pins per game after leaving his mark on 2,674 pins. Lalisang and teammate Yuyu Lie won gold in the doubles competition.

Wu Su Hong of Hong Kong is currently in second with 2,630 after taking the silver medal in the doubles and finishing fifth in the singles, while Filipino Purvis Granger of Paranaque City, who won gold in the singles competition with 1,360 pins, is currently in third with a combined score of 2,614 pins.

Meanwhile, John Santos of Team Saipan is currently on 42nd place with a total of 2,263, averaging 188.58 pins per game. He placed 43rd in the singles with 1,108 pins and teamed with Joseph Sablan for 22nd place in the doubles competition. The two finished with 2,252 pins, with Santos accounting for 1,155 pins and Sablan 1,097 pins.

Youth bowler Raymond Zapanta of Team Capitol Hill is in 49th place, averaging 186.33 pins per game after tipping over 2,236 pins in the 12 games he played. The youngster was 22nd in the singles with 1,189 pins and had a score of 1,047 in the doubles when he teamed with fellow youth bowler Raymond Angeles.

Capitol Hill’s Francisco Barja is holds the No. 63 spot with a total of 2,105 pins—1,052 in singles and 1,052 in doubles—while Halstead is right behind him with 2,103 pins.

Sablan is in 66th place with 2,099 pins, while Angeles and Ruselle Zapanta sport scores of 1,996 and 1,961 pins.

Still remaining to be played is the team competition, which will take center stage today.

Scores from the three events will be combined to determine who qualifies for the Masters Event. Only the top 16 bowlers in the all-events can secure slots for the Masters, which unfolds tomorrow and is scheduled to conclude on Sunday.

A total of 72 male bowlers from a record 18 countries are currently vying for supremacy.

The CNMI delegation was also accompanied by head of delegation and SBA president Jerry Tan, as well as 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.

Updates of the tournament are available at the ABF website www.abf-online.org.