Fiery NLB Corp grab lead with win against IBL Team 1
Cozmo and K2E2 prevail over separate rivals
By Miguel Carlos
KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Sustaining the momentum of their steady rise in the team standings, the fiery pump specialists of NLB Corporation succeeded in grabbing the lead of the ongoing 2017 Season 11 FTBK Tenpin Bowling Team Tournament through a superb win over IBL Team 1 in their scheduled 12th week match up.
Cozmo Salmiya and defending champion K2E2 Thunders on the other hand inched closer into contention for a place in the next round after prevailing over their respective rivals.
Also emerging victorious last week in this sporting event held every Friday at the Cozmo Bowling Center in Salmiya and organized by the Filipino Tenpin Bowlers Kuwait (FTBK) were Strikers X, Dyn Aviation and Siete Pares 1.
And with a full elimination round to go, the battle for the 6 championship berths remains to be a wide open race among the 13 participating teams.
Going into the match positioned in second and third place respectively, IBL Team 1 and NLB Corporation were both aiming to take control of the leader board supremacy. In the opening game of the 4-game series encounter, NLB bowled like a house on fire burning the stunned IBL Team 1 keglers to the ground with a 928-698 rout.
Despite the heavy beating they absorbed, IBL Team 1 initiated a remarkable recovery from their game one debacle and matched the tenacity of the pump masters in booking a close 831-796 win in game two.
With the two protagonist still bowling on even terms, IBL Team 1 managed to further close the gap by snatching the third game 825-788 courtesy of the combine efforts of Uly Menezes, Aji Varghese, Lloyd Fernandes, Ali Arqoub and Valentine Gonsalves.
Still way ahead 2512-2354 after three games, the NLB Corporation crew of Cris Bulacja, Ric Marimla, Rudy Zablan, Nelson de Leon and Philip Marimla caught fire once more in the final game of the match and put away IBL Team 1 with another superb 928-699 victory. After its 3465-3053 total pin falls victory, NLB Corporation are now the new tournament leaders.
Meanwhile, the entertainment magnates of Cozmo Salmiya were able to make good progress in their bid to move into serious contention as they banked on their victories in games one and two in narrowly beating Rock N Bowl 3226-2140.
Knowing that it is high time to make their assault on the current leaders, Cozmo bannered by Arnold Mendoza, Bert Pantanilla, Cris Batucan, Paul Arcayan and Bader Malallah picked up an early 863-744 win in the opening game and then built a sizeable advantage by snatching the next game 782-731.
With Cozmo up by 17 marks 16451475, Rock N Bowl broke into the win column through an 849-788 decision in game three and even grabbed another 816-768 in the final game courtesy of Liza Catapia, Rod LLait, Norie Sairat and Romy Fermil.
However, this two victories by Rock N Bowl failed to prevent Cozmo Salmiya from winning the match. K2E2 another team who badly needs a victory succeeded in doing so by coming back from a game one setback in stopping the DMDA Bowleros 3220-3041.
After the DMDA quartet of Chit Mariano, Jane nance, Tito Tamayo and Sonny Mariano handed the K2E2 an 846-687 thumping in the first game of the match, the Thunders quickly retaliated with a 908-783 victory of their own in the next game. In game three, K2E2 grabbed the upper hand from the Bowleros via a 785709 victory before closing out the match with another 815-705 success in game four.
Top bowlers for K2E2 in this outing were Butch Alinea, Kim Alinea, Jess Farne, Edwin Latoja, Lee Mills and Joan Latoja.
In the other matches of the week, Strikers X remained well placed in the standings after grounding tournament pace setter IBL Team 2 pin busters 3136-3023. In garnering the victory, Strikers X spearheaded by Jheng Liwayway, John Caldwell, Norman Conde and Vicky Navarro eked out 824-776, 817-759 and 762686 wins in games one, three and four. IBL Team 2 who remained on top of the list took an 802-708 win in game two courtesy of Rudolph Castellino, Nadine Dias, Allen Morais and Nikshita Shetty. In the remaining pairings of the week, Dyn Aviation edged out D’ Islanders 3057-3029 and Siete Pares 1 subdued Siete Pares 2 3075-2990.
World Class who bowled all alone this week accumulated a total score of 3178 pin falls.
For the Individual and Team High scores the current record holders are as follows: Individual High Game Men Class O/A-Ronnel Valencia 285, Men Class B-Ali Arqoub 254, Ladies- Jheng Liwayway 224; High Average Men Class O/A- JR Sabado 193, Men Class B-Ali Arqoub 181, Ladies-Jheng Liwayway 173; Team High Game-Cozmo Salmiya 868 and Team High Series-NLB Corporation 3340.
The team standings after twelve weeks are as follows (read as rank, team name and total score); 1. NLB Corporation-37309, 2. IBL Team 2-37190, 3. IBL Team 1-37056, 4. Strikers X-36999, 5. Rock N Bowl36777, 6. Siete Pares 2-36563, 7. D’ Islanders-36485, 8. DMDA Bowleros-36466, 9. Cozmo Salmiya-36438, 10. Siete Pares 1-36414, 11. Dyn Aviation-36336, 12. K2E2 Thunders-36336, 13. World Class -36041.