Carabeo wins Cetba Open in seventh try
After seven tries, former national kegler Jeff Carabeo finally captured the elusive Masters title in the 9th Cebu Tenpin Bowling Association (Cetba) National Tenpin Open at the SM City Cebu Bowling Center yesterday.
Carabeo of Team Jackson Tours-Alog outlasted his teammate Alex Ngoi Jr. in the finals to take home the crown and the P50,000 purse. Carabeo lost the first game, 191-256, but bounced back in the deciding second game, 209-188, to clinch the victory.
The 43-year-old Carabeo was armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the finals after topping Round 3 of the elimination.
Second-seeded Ngoi advanced to the finals after defeating John Galindo, 247-187, in the knockout semis.
“I’ve been playing here for seven times. Ngayon lang nag-champion. Usually I placed second, third, or fifth,” said Carabeo, who last suited for the national team in 2015.
“This event is part of my calendar. It’s fun playing here. The primary purpose is to enjoy and winning this title is just a bonus,” added Carabeo, who works as a supervisor at the Cavitex Infrastructure.
Benshir Layoso, also a former national team bowler, took a share of the spotlight after scoring two perfect games and bagged P80,000 cash prize.
“I did not expect to score two perfect games but I am happy of course with two perfect games. I just got lucky with the lane assignments,” he said.
Ronan Barredo of Cetba won the singles event with 1,452, Eric Arañez of TCTSA-Alog had 1,432 for second place and Benshir Layoso of MTBA-Gruppo placed third with 1,422.
In the all events, Arañez won with 1,822, John Galindo placed second with 1,772 and Barredo was third with 1,768.
The Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) won the team event with 1,326, beating Jacskon Tours-Alog with 1,322. The players for CIT-U were Rey Velarde, Roland Bantilan and Barredo. /