Almost semis for Liza

The first of six events at the 26th World TenPin Bowling Championships in Las Vegas is over with the Philippines failing to reach the semifinals in singles for men and women although Liza del Rosario nearly made the cut, finishing third in her qualifying bracket.

Del Rosario averaged 215.83 in six games to land third in Squad 2 which was led by eventual champion Futaba Imai of Japan with 220.33. The other bracket, Squad 1, advanced Hong Haemi of Korea, Mai Jensen of Denmark and Chan Shuk Han of HongKong. Del Rosario fell short by an average of 2.84 pinfalls to make it to the semis and wound up No. 6 of 176 participants. The other Filipinas who competed were Lara Posadas (No. 18 with 206.17), Krizziah Tabora (No. 23 with 204.67), Liza Clutario (No. 26 with 204.5), Alexis Sy (No. 82 with 190.33) and Bea Hernandez (No. 142 with 173.67).

In contrast, none of the six males came close to breaking into the semis. Merwin Tan was the highest finisher with an average of 205.33 pinfalls for No. 35 of 213. The others were No. 36 Kevin Cu with 204.83, No. 106 Kenneth Chua with 191.83, No. 153 Raoul Miranda with 184.83, No. 120 Jomar Jumapao with 190 and No. 210 J. P. Macatula with 156.50.

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Gold medals are at stake in singles, doubles, trios, team of five, all-events and masters. The tournament began last Friday and runs up to Dec. 4 at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Philippine head coach Paeng Nepomuceno is joined in the trip by lead manager Bong Coo and assistant coaches Biboy Rivera, Jojo Canare and Rey Reyes.

Nepomuceno, 60, is a World Championships veteran himself with an overall haul of three silvers and a bronze. He teamed with Rauel Reformado and Ollie Ongtawco for the silver in trios in 1983 and took the silver in singles in 1987. In 1991, Nepomuceno shared the silver in the team of five and the bronze in doubles with Paolo Valdez.

Early this month, Philippine bowling stormed back into the global limelight when Tabora topped the World Cup in Mexico to join Nepomuceno, Lita de la Rosa, Coo and C. J. Suarez in the elite cast of Filipino winners of the prestigious crown. Nepomuceno won in 1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996. De la Rosa broke through in 1978 and Coo in 1979. Suarez bagged the title in Honduras in 2003. At the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan last September, the Philippine women’s team of four claimed the silver with Del Rosario, Sy, Posadas and Tabora. There are clear signs of a reawakening after a long period of silence in the sport. Nepomuceno, who took over as head coach two years ago, said it hasn’t been easy making the turnaround.

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“None of our national bowlers is a full-time pro,” he said. “They’re either students or workers with day jobs. We get together for training at night after work or classes. If we only had more support, we could develop full-time pros. We’re entitled to only two foreign exposures a year and we’re hoping to increase that. We’ve introduced a five-day training regimen where our bowlers do strength and conditioning two days and actual bowling three days in a week. We also do lectures to raise the level of mental awareness of our bowlers.”

Nepomuceno said the arrival of a new oiling machine was timely. Although it wasn’t available in training for the recent SEA Games, the machine is now in full access at the Starmall EDSA where the team practices. “We’re able to simulate lane conditions with the machine,” he said. “There are short, medium and long oiling patterns and each has eight different conditions. For Las Vegas, they’re using the medium.”   

Nepomuceno said because of depth, he likes the chances of the Philippine squad in the team of five for men and women at the World Championships. “I think we’re capable of winning medals in any event,” he said. “Anything can happen in bowling. The world’s best bowlers are in Vegas so we’ve got to play 100 percent to make a difference.” He said the reorganization of the bowling NSA from the Philippine Bowling Congress to the Philippine Bowling Federation (PBF) has put the development of the sport back on track with Sen. Tito Sotto as chairman and Steve Hontiveros as president. “The PBF is recognized by Wor Bowling, the Asian Confederation, POC and PSC,” he said. “That means a lot. No more leadership issues, no more political problems. It’s now down to hard work.