Monday, September 15, 2008 X Gen clobbers Palm Grove, regains IMBL lead
NELLIE Arciaga rolled to a 3-0 win over Irene Rapada leading X Generation to a 17.5-6.5 win over Palm Grove CCF Bowlers regaining the leadership of the International Mixed Bowling League (IMBL) Thursday night at the Puyat Center.
Oscar Aquino and Ed Claridad sneaked past Rommel Alcid and Hubert Cornel to offset losses by spouses Rolly and Nitz de Guzman to give the erstwhile second-ranked team 181.5 won points as X Gen resumed leadership of the 15-team league.
After a slow start, X Gen halved the score at 2.5 a piece but was given a two-point bonus because of the 33-pinfall lead.
X Gen then won 5-2 each in the ensuing games for the total 17.5 won points. Only Bernie Santiago won for the four-time champion as he gave up just half a point to the female de Guzman.
And X Gen could thank Khatib for giving overnight leader Budget Savers a 14-10 beating.
Budget Savers could only earn two points each in the first two games and a 54-pinfall deficit in the overall series. Then the rally started that saw Jimmy Uy beat Timmy Melendez in the last game, Jun Reyes take the scalp of Jean Banta. Racquel Abubo was two shy off Riz Banta and Leo Abubo pummeled Bernard Banta.
When Nanding Albino failed to finish with a strike and Maynard Banta had a double bucket in the end for eight pins, the game was won by the former. But Albino hit only eight pins to come a point short of Khatib's 54-pinfall lead and lost the bonus three points.
"It's a shame, I made it safely in the last and I left two pins standing," Albino commented as the team took a 53-pin win in the last canto.
The Savers had 175.5, which was good for second spot.
Pretty Pink Panthers returned to the third spot after giving Moog a 16-8 beating for 172 won points.
Peter Go scored three against Ruel Quero to lead the Panthers' charge to the win. Joseph Tan, Marice de Guzman and Jun Rialubin escaped Jeff Carino, Jun Gapaya and Noel Guerzon, in that order even as Boy Retuya lost 0-3 to Lala Cabradilla.
Moog actually won the last game, 5-2, but was too far behind in the overall series. Cross Stitch blanked Top 40 in the last game for a 16-8 win for 160 won points to move to fifth from seventh in the standing.
Flor Balaba may not have played the way she liked it, but was still able to sweep Roland Ruaro even as Mike Ramat blanked Eli Demayo.
Ben Diaz, Ben Ayoong and Dolph Lachica got a point each from Jox Villanueva, Gilbert Villafuerte and this writer who practically all had bad third games.
Diaz finally found his mark in the last half of the third game to rally against Villanueva and snatch the win, while Ayoong also found his game going in the period after hitting low games in the first two games.
Chamba moved down to sixth from fifth a after 6-18 loss to Liberty while the latter, who missed Dondon Gadon for the second straight week, moved up to eighth from ninth with 152.5 won points.
Nikko Go rolled the league's best series of 686 on lines of 223,252 and 211 but was not enough to lift defending champion past an upstart Mixed Nuts.
Go had a five-bagger, had a four-pin leave in the sixth frame, which he picked up and a spare before hitting two more strikes for the league's top score of 252.
His 686 topped the previous best of Joe Balaoing by 47 pins as he scored a perfect three.
Go's 252 helped the defending champion retake the series by 75 pins, although behind 6-8 in won points then Gerco gave up the last canto, 1-6, but still managed to win the bonus three points for taking the overall series for the margin.
But he got little help from his teammates who could not find their lines. Mike Casuga and Cheeno Loy salvaged a lone win each against Homer Manansala and Charlie Haber, respectively. Doris Santiago and Tony Salcedo were swept by Leah Torres and Ed Narvaez, respectively.
Gerco has 154.5 won points to move down to seventh from sixth, while Mixed Nuts moved to ninth from 10th with 148 won points.
Top Dog improved to 10th from 11th with 140.5 won points and followed by the Wild Cards (129) which beat Kiwanis, 18-8, on a night when two Kiwanis were absent anew. The loss saw Kiwanis fall to 11th from eighth with 140 won points.
Khatib improved two rungs from 15th to 13th with 121 won points, with Moog trailing by just a point, while Mr. Donut remains at the bottom with 98.5 won points after winning 16 by playing blind. (R.Osis)
