EMILIZA "Emz" Yap Salvador clinched the August champion's trophy in the recently concluded Davao Tenpin Bowlers Association (Datba) Monthly Finals Tournament, held at the SM Lanang bowling center.
Salvador, with a twice-to-beat advantage, defeated veteran challenger Ulysses Caturan, 211-194, to secure the title and a spot in the grand finals.
She topped the six-game qualifying round with 1,216 pinfalls, followed by her husband Kim Salvador, who placed second with 1,181. Cyrus Morales (1,179) and Caturan (1,173) rounded out the top four.
In the shootout round, Caturan, who finished fourth, outlasted Morales (174) and Kim (204) to advance to the finals.
Emz took home a cash prize of P7,000, while Caturan earned P5,000. Kim won P3,000, and Morales received P2,000.
Caturan, who tallied 665 pinfalls, was the top qualifier and secured the highest game-qualifying score (261). He shared the highest game finals honors with Art Galendez, both scoring 222.
Meanwhile, Datba successfully hosted the 16th Datba Kadayawan National Bowling Tour (NBT) Open.
Homegrown talent Manuel "Moi" Nierra II emerged as the champion in the open mixed division, defeating teammate JV Flores, 240-194. Nierra pocketed P50,000, while Flores claimed P25,000. Another Datba player, Mav Manuel, settled for the P12,000 third-place prize. The top three winners also received trophies, while the next two placers, Frank Bodon of USBC-PSB and Ronnie Javier of CKTBA, took home P8,000 and P5,000, respectively, along with medals.
In the mixed classified category, Jun De Lara of MCBA claimed the P50,000 champion's prize and trophy, while Salve Madallo of Cetba earned the runner-up prize of P25,000. Third to fifth placers Jing Datoy of KBA (P12,000), Rey Velarde of Cetba-Sugbu (P8,000), and Nora Esguerra of Atba (P5,000) also went home with prizes.
Special awardees received additional prizes.
The Datba weekly qualifying rounds will resume this weekend at SM Lanang. (MLSA)