Chin goes unbeaten in local tourney
EL CENTRO — It was a clean sweep through the weekend, as Danny Chin went undefeated in claiming his first Robinson Ford Masters title at the Strikezone Bowling Center here on April 29.
Chin won five consecutive twogame matches on April 28 and April 29, capped by a 449-433 victory over Gordon Belt in the championship finale during the Imperial Valley USBC-sanctioned event.
“Very good,” answered the soft-spoken Calexico resident regarding how he felt about winning the title. “It’s my second time competing and the first time winning.”
The native of Queens, N.Y., came into the double-elimination tournament as the No. 5 seed after rolling a 688 three-game series during the Imperial Valley Open earlier in April.
He began the first day of the competition with an opening-round 420-339 victory over Emilio Sandoval and followed with a sparkling 510-438 win over Jerry Vaught, the No. 4 seed of the field of 16.
Chin finished the first day of competition with a 413-327 victory over Glenn Svare to put him in the semifinals.
On the second day of competition, it was a battle of unbeatens as Chin faced Derek Murray, one of his teammates in the mixed league.
The sixth-seeded Murray had won his opening three matches, the first a narrow 431-429 win over David Granados. Murray followed with a pair of 500-plus series, capped by a 504-367 round three win against No. 2 seeded Nolan Coyne. Chin prevailed, however, with a 464-423 victory, securing a spot in the championship.
Belt, the 2013 Masters Champion, had a much more difficult time on his road to the title.
After a 479-439 opening-round victory over 2011 Masters winner Ted Turner, the third-seeded Belt was sent out of the winners’ bracket after a 515-403 loss to Murray, who posted the lone perfect game of the weekend.
The 300 was part of a threegame series that totaled 804 for Murray, the highest of the tournament. It would be Murray’s fifth perfect game of his career.
Following the loss, Belt would bounce back with five wins in a row. The comeback began with a 412-328 elimination of Mike Reyla, followed by wins over Enrique Garcia (443-364), Svare (440429) and Coyne (502-429) before a re-match with Murray.
Belt would get eliminate Murray with a narrow 467-460 win to set up the title match.
“I thought I had a chance,” Chin said of his opponent prior to the championship. “He’s a great bowler, but if I stayed within myself and threw my ball, I thought I had a chance.”
Chin rolled a 238 in the first game against Belt’s 224. He followed with a 211 to best Belt’s 209 to earn his first ever Masters title.
“It feels really good,” Chin said of going unbeaten in the tournament. “It builds my confidence up.”
When asked what his key to victory was, Chin replied, “Staying slow, staying within my game.”
It was the perfect recipe for the new Masters Champion.