SBA to send 8 bowlers to Macau Asian Intercity

Saipan Bowling Association announced this week that it would be sending eight players to the 22nd Asian Intercity Bowling Championships to be held in Macau, China from Nov. 28 to Dec. 6.

A player must be an SBA member to qualify for the team and the selection process must be based on the SBA Bowler Ranking System.

The Top 4 bowlers based on the rankings as of Sept. 30, 2008 would make it to Team Saipan.

Based on the SBA’s BRS, Raymond Zapanta is leading in total points with 1,490, including 180 points in the Philippine Bowling Association Bowler of the Year.

He also compiled 100 points in the January edition of the King of the Lanes, 100 in February 45 in July, and 45 in August.

He had also 75 in the SBC Saturday League (Jan. 5), 60 in the CBC-Thursday League (Feb. 21), 60 in the SBC Monday League (March 3), 75 in the CBC Friday League (March 14), 70 in the SBC Wednesday league (Aug. 13), 70 in the SBC Monday League (Aug. 18), and 60 in the CBC Friday League (Sept. 12).

Zapanta did not compete in annual Philippine Bowling Association Classified and the September edition of the King of the lanes.

The next three players in the list of the Magic Four, with their total points in parenthesis, are Richard P. Leong (1,313), Dannie Robles (1,216), and Robert Talavera (1,188).

Lower ranked bowlers could still qualify, however, if the higher ranked players are not available or could not comply with the selection criteria.

SBA said that if any of the Top 10 bowlers, based on the BRS, is not available to complete a team, or any of the selected bowler quit the team by Oct. 31, SBA will reserve the right to offer any slot for the team to any SBA member willing to comply with all the requirements.

Interested players may contact Ross Zapanta at 288-5627 for more information about the application procedures and qualification system.

Rounding out the Top 10 players in the SBA list as of Sept. 30 are Simon Manacop (1,099), Raymond Angeles (1,076), Raul Dumapit (1,001), Kitz Barja (793), Percy Omechelang (785), and Paul Pangelinan (645).

Saipan is a member city of the AIBC. Each member city could send two teams, four men, and four ladies to the annual tournament that gathers together the best players in the region representing their respective cities.

SBA said a member city might also invite another city from the same country as a guest team. The guest team may send the same number of delegation.

However, SBA said it would not pay all the expenses in regard to the conduct of the tournament.

It said that selected bowlers must be willing to shoulder any funding shortfall.

SBA said if a group wants to represent a guest city, such group would be responsible for all the expenses such as guest member fee, tournament fee, airfare, hotel accommodation, and uniforms.

The estimated cost per bowler is $1,600, which includes $900 for roundtrip airline ticket, $50 per day for hotel accommodations, and membership and other tournament fees.

The SBA estimated a total cost of $16,000 for a 10-person delegation. This accounts for a range of $800 to $1,000 contribution per participant.