WITH so much sports talent on Guam, athletes who compete abroad continue to make a name for themselves as well as put the place most call home on the sports world map.
Recently, several of Guam’s top bowlers travelled to Pasay, Philippines to compete in the 15th PBAP International Invitational Classic. Despite not being able to bring home the championship trophy, JD Castro did our island proud as he finished the tournament clinching second place as well as rolling a perfect game.
Castro strung 12 strikes in a row in front of a shocked crowd during the semifinal round of the competition. While it was Castro’s first perfect game in the international scene, it was also the only perfect game registered for the championship. Castro’s flawless performance overshadowed a superb outing by local bet Apple Posadas, who punched 11 consecutive strikes during the match only to feel the disappointment of a 279 game falling victim to the 300 in the classified division.
Castro finished the three-day qualifying event of the Classified Division as the top performer, establishing the pace early in the program. However, during the eight-game finals round, Castro finished behind Posadas and top seed Benjamin Hong of Singapore. As the third seed, Castro needed to beat the top qualifier in a “must beat twice” format finale.
Hong took the early lead after Castro’s 10-pin miss, coupled with a pocket 7-10 leave. Maintaining his composure, Castro managed to put together a series of strikes on frames five through nine to narrow the gap. Hong ran into some trouble by missing a split in the eighth and not converting the fill frame for a 228 game. Needing a strike in his final frame, Castro fell short and handed the match to the top seed after bowling a 225.
In the open division, Castro placed sixth in the qualifying round and 15th in the finals with a 214 average while Guam’s Jonathan Duenas qualified in 23rd place. Duenas’ performance midway through the finals pushed him to fifth place before dropping back down to 17th place with a 213 average.
Other results
Joey Miranda III qualified in 10th position after the three-day event and slipped to 14th place in the finals of the Classified Division. Ray San Nicolas claimed fifth place in the Youth division with a superb performance averaging 220 pins per game. San Nicolas occupied the third slot going into the last of eight games where pin carry played a factor.
Kevin Cu of the Philippines and Ilma Nur Jannah bettered San Nicolas’ last game to pass Guam’s bet claiming third and fourth place. Javier Tan of Singapore and Philippines’ Ivan Malig claimed the championship and runner up positions respectively.
Other Guam competitors included Amber San Agustin, who finished in 16th place, and Paul Kaneshiro in 19th place.
