Junior bowler rolls RP Open’s first perfect game
Jun 08, 2009
MANILA, Philippines – A junior bowler beat the veterans to the punch in scoring the first perfect game in the 38th Philippine International Open Tenpin Bowling Championships.
Jerht Santos solved the puzzling lanes of the Paeng’s Midtown Bowl Saturday to score the meet’s first 300 while competing in the Class O men’s trios competitions with TBAM-Prima teammates Jeff Chan and Collins.
Making adjustments to his swing and using a new ball – a 15-pound Ebonite Smashtime – Santos made it happen on lanes 17 and 18. It was Santos’ first perfect game in a major tournament.
“I was using the outer lane and another ball in my first game, so I decided to change to a new one and made adjustments,” said the 19-year-old Ateneo sophomore who actually started with a mediocre 184 before going in a zone Saturday. “It was God’s grace.”
For his feat, Santos earned a P250,000 four-year scholarship courtesy of the UPHS.
Together with his 556 in the singles, 468 in the doubles earlier, plus his 484 in the trios, the TBAM-Prima-BX player likewise vaulted to the top of the men’s all-events standings with a combined tally of 1,508.
Santos swept past national players Chester King (1,484) and Biboy Rivera (1,466), who slid to second and third, respectively.
Actually, the first perfect game was nearly scored early Saturday morning by TBAM-Prima-RP’s Jonas Baltasar, who fell short by a pin when he missed the 10 pin in his last frame on lane 28 in the men’s Class O singles.
However, Baltasar, who shot 178 and 228 in the first and second games, jumped to second spot with a 705 aggregate, 23 pins behind frontrunner Rivera (728), while relegating King to third place (697).
It was also a big day for PBAP-Bowlmart’s Lara Posadas, who came up with a six-game series of 1,348 to land first place in the Ladies’ Class O qualifying, bumping off RP mainstay Liza del Rosario to second (1,304), while Kim Lao dropped to third (1,272).
Posadas’ elder sister, national bowler Apple, was running fourth (1,262).
— From www.gmanews.tv/sports
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