ARAW NG DABAW CHAMPIONS
DABAWENYOS Ulysses Caturan and Kim Brian Salvador clinched titles after topping their respective divisions at the close of the 17th Araw ng Dabaw National Bowling Tour (NBT) Open held at the SM Lanang bowling center over the weekend.
Twice-to-beat Caturan, the 2023 Datba Bowler of the Year champion, bounced back from his initial game loss to rule the men’s mixed open masters division. He defeated Manuel “Moi” Nierra II in the second game, 214-184, marking his first Araw ng Dabaw title.
Nierra had previously subdued Caturan, 187-165, in their first encounter.
“Nangulelat ko sa (I didn’t perform well in the) classified division on Saturday, so I tried to redeem myself in the Sunday open masters finals,” said Caturan, an overseas Filipino worker, in a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao on Thursday, March 14.
He earned the twice-to-beat advantage by amassing 1,673 pinfalls in the eight-game qualifying round. His Datba teammates Nierra (1,663), Ulene Rose Rule (1,659), and Crystal Chavez (1,651), along with KBA’s Gene Mendoza, advanced to the next round.
Caturan said, “Got lucky I had a clear window going to Game 7 because it seems it’s just 50 pins from number one, so I tried to make more marks. I got lucky to convert.”
In the first shootout, Chavez (213) outclassed Rule (198), and Mendoza (179) to set up a second shootout clash against Nierra. But Nierra stopped Chavez’s momentum, hacking out a 247-158 victory to face Caturan in the title showdown.
Nierra described his journey from struggling with lane conditions during the qualifying rounds to finding his stride in the finals.
“The momentum I earned during the last three games continued until the championship match, considering Ate Crystal and Tito Ulysses are formidable players. But during the last game, fatigue set in and affected my throws, cost me some points but I’m already satisfied with my performance at that point because my efforts led me to a podium finish,” Nierra added in s separate interview.
Chavez, meanwhile, expressed contentment with her third-place finish and emphasized the importance of persistence in bowling.
“Even if I fell short in winning the championship, I’m happy to finish third. I realized I can still win whether I have a high or low handicap,” Chavez said.
Caturan bagged the top P50,000 cash prize and the champion’s trophy, while Nierra, Chavez, Rule, Mendoza, and Tony Tiongson received P25,000, P12,000, P8,000, P5,000, and P3,000, respectively.
In the classified division, Salvador secured the championship trophy and P50,000 prize over the next five placers fellow Datba member Art Galendez (P25,000), KBA’s Teddy Sabuga-a (P12,000), Acbi’s Wilbert Yu (P8,000), Datba’s Chad Tancontian (P5,000), and KBA’s Tiongson (P3,000).
Salvador dominated the eightgame qualifying round, hitting 1,622 pinfalls to claim a twiceto-beat edge over Sabuga-a, Yu, Tancontian, and Galendez.
In the first shootout, Galendez (206) outperformed Tancontian (177) and Yu (150) to advance to the second shootout against Sabuga-a.
Galendez maintained his momentum, defeating Sabuga-a, 217-188, setting the stage for a face-off with Salvador for the title.
Despite Galendez’s strong performance, Salvador prevailed, following a 193-185 win.
Expressing his joy, Salvador said, “I’m so happy winning my first title. Hindi ko expected to win kasi baguhan pa ako sa sports na ito (I didn’t expect to win because I’m still new to this sport). But thankfully, I’m so lucky to win my first title here in Davao. Thankful for the support of my family and Datba from day 1 when I started playing bowling.”
The top qualifiers for the mixed open and classified divisions were Datba’s Jesrael Rule and Jun Morales and KBA’s Sam Advincula.