JEDDAH: Time to separate the men from the boys, the chaff from the grain when the championship round matches take place Friday in the FTBJ-ICBL 36th Conference bowling tournament at the Bowling City here.
Saudia Ice Cream, Cristal Rock n Roll, Sadafco and D’ Barkads advanced as the Nos.
4, 5, 6, and 7 teams and completed the 7-team stepladder final cast along with outright qualifiers Ekis Reload, Pinslashers and Sagmit Dental Clinic.
Saudia pooled 48 points to head the four second chance teams to make it. Cristal compiled 45, Sadafco 44 and D’ Barkads 39.
The knockout game of three handicap series semifinal last Friday also saw the end of the reign of defending champion Hidada Ltd., which fell woefully short on 30 points in a tie with JP Gilas 2 and right behind Sky Freight-OSN 36. Elsewhere, Patsamba and Zekiesha made 27 and 25 points.
The last four stepladder teams knock each other out in two-game series with handicap in the first match of the championship round with the winner taking on No. 3 Sagmit Dental Clinic in the second match. The second match winner then plays No. 2 Pinslashers for the right to meet No. 1 Ekis in a championship match with a twice to beat format.
Ekis is a match away from the championship crown, as it tries to put the exclamation point to a dominant campaign in which the Ernie Geslani-led team won Team of the Week honors five teams including one it shared with Sagmit Dental Clinic and Pinslashers.
After an excellent semifinal display things could turn around for Saudia Ice Cream, the league leader until Ekis came along and best remembered for achieving this conference’s only grand slam.
During the 20th session Saudia drew solid numbers from skipper Igna Salgado 658, Jimmy Aragones 639, Marissa Resano 598 and Marie Gumpal 561. Gerry Mandas also had valuable 220-182 while Frank Afurong added 201.
Using six-man rotation, Cristal got 628, 593 and 546 from the trio of Jay Bengco, Eloisa Fernandez and Aileen Miralbuna to go with the 212-199 by Mohd. Al Amri, 191-258 by Ruben Grino and 180-203 by Rene Ocampo.
Sadafco had Danny Bautista leading the way on 600 with help from Charrie Guzman and Luz Pagaran who posted matching cards of 586s. Yaser Hokbi strung together 224-200, Pancho Cuevas returned 246-157 and Joel Nidoy tallied 201-194.
Cheryl Tibay from the distaff side was the surprise top scorer at D’ Barkads on 644 followed by Ed Sardiña 608, Gerry Tano 594, team captain Leo Edejer 580 and Thess Grandia 576.
Saudia Ice Cream, Cristal, Sadafco, D’ Barkads qualify for today’s final
Saudia Ice Cream, Cristal, Sadafco, D’ Barkads qualify for today’s final
