BOWLER Jake Yap became the first Open Masters champion in the inaugural Seaside Tenpin Bowling Association Inc. (STBAI) National Open Tenpin Bowling Championships 2019 at the SM Bowling Center, SM Seaside City last Sunday, April 14.
Yap of Cebu Tenpin Bowling Association (Cetba) outlasted Clyde Lim, 186-176, in the championship match to win the Open Masters title in the first ever major tournament of the newly formed bowling group of Cebu, the STBAI.
Yap earned outright championship berth after topping the 10-game qualifiers with a total score of 2,232.
The 6-handicapper Yap played solid in the latter part of the qualifying, scoring 213, 226, 234, 249 and 230 in the sixth to 10th games.
Yap started the qualifying with scores of 205, 175, 195, 244 and 201 before upping the ante in the next five games.
The fourth-seeded Lim, also from Cetba, had a different path to the championship as he needed to play in the quarterfinals and semis.
Lim scored 300 in the quarters to defeat No. 3 Joshua Galarse and No. 5 Luke Bolongan, who scored 230 and 190. Lim then sneaked past second-seeded Mic Mic Miranda, 187-180, in the semis before losing to Yap in the championship match.
It was a dominating show for Cetba as their bowlers Yap, Lim, Miranda and Galarse all landed in the top four.
STBAI’s Luke Bolongan rounded up the Top 5 in the six-day national tournament attended by players from different parts of the country.
The Open Masters champion Yap took home P60,000 cash prize.
The tournament, which was part of the 2019 National Bowling Tour, shelled out about P300,000 in cash prizes for the winners in the Open Masters and Seniors Masters.
STBAI, which was formed just last year to cater to the bowlers in the southern part of Cebu, is looking to hold more local and national tournaments following the success of the national open. (RSC)