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Talavera, Omechelang triumph twice
Veteran bowlers Robert Talavera and Gloria Omechelang recorded double victories in last month’s 32nd CNMI May Masters Tournament held at the Saipan Bowling Center.
Talavera won the all events division and also finished first in the doubles contest after teaming up with Alex Castro. In the all events, Talavera collected 1,793 pinfalls to beat the 1,745 and 1,712 of Raymond Angeles and Raul Dumapit, respectively. The all events champion posted 579 in singles, 615 in doubles, and 599 in team to average close to 200 pinfalls (199.22) and win by 48 pinfalls against Angeles.
Gloria Omechelang is flanked by Diana Camacho, left, and Yho Villavicencio after receiving their cash prize in the 32nd May Masters Tournament during the awards ceremony at Kanoa Resort late last month. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
In the singles division, there was also a close battle with the winner decided by only five pinfalls. Raul Dumapit earned 612 pinfalls to prevail against Raphael Zapanta, Ronald Batac, and Ramir Deleon, who logged identical 607 pinfalls for the three-way tie for runner-up honors. Dumapit nearly posted 200 pinfalls in each of the three games with his 199 in Games 1 and 3 and 214 in Game 3. Batac had two 200-plus pinfall game (207 and 236), but his 164 in Game 2 cost him the singles crown. Zapanta also earned 200-plus pinfalls in two games (202 and 236), but had a meltdown in the last game with his 169 pinfalls. Ramir De Leon fell short too, because after registering 219 and 204 in the first two games, he marked only 193 in Game 3.
In the women’s division, Gloria Omechelang recorded 1,575 to down Diana Camacho (1,511) and Yho Villavicencio (1,496). She then teamed up with Tess Fabie in the doubles to hand Diana Camacho another bridesmaid finish. The Omechelang-Fabie tandem collected 1,085 pinfalls to defeat Diana Camacho and Emi William’s 1,011. Carrie and Janice Camacho rounded out the Top 3 with their 970 pitfalls.
In the singles event, Diana Camacho this time finished on top. She gathered 583 pinfalls to win over Omechelang (561) and Vilavicencio (536).
