Paeng burns Busan lanes

BUSAN, South Korea – Four-time World Cup champion Paeng Nepomuceno flashed vintage form to bag the men’s masters title of the Korea International Open Championships here, a performance that readily asserted the Filipinos’ status as among the top contenders in bowling competitions of the coming Asian Games.

The lefty 45-year-old Filipino burned the lanes of the Home Plus Asiad Bowling Center, the same site where matches in the Sept. 29-Oct. 14 event will be held, with a total of 213 pinfalls, routing RP team coach Purvis Granger (182) in all all-Filipino final Monday night.

The victory was worth 7,000,000 won (roughly P.3 million) for Nepomuceno, currently on a comeback trail after undergoing a complicated wrist surgery two years ago, while Granger, the top qualifier at the end of the eliminations, settled for runner-up honor worth 3.5 million won (around P150,000).

Entries from Malaysia, Singapore, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia and Guam saw action in the tournament largely considered as a prelude to the Asiad.

The feat came in the heels of the Filipinos’ triumphant campaign in last month’s 17th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships held in Hong Kong where the country won three gold medals courtesy of Liza del Rosario (singles and all events) and the pair of Biboy Rivera and Chester King (men’s double).

Nepomuceno finished a strong third among the 16 qualifiers in the men’s masters. He defeated Singapore’s Tom Hahl in the second match of the stepladder finals, 212-194, before downing Korea’s Dong Sang Gon, 189-172, to arrange the championship showdown with Granger.

CJ Suarez (seventh) and Rivera (eighth) were the other Filipinos who qualified in the men’s masters but failed to make the stepladder finals. Botchok Rey, RJ Bautista and King didn’t make the masters cutoff.

The women’s team failed to make headway as only team captain Jojo Canare advanced in the stepladder finals at No. 5, only to fade away easily when she lost right in the first match.

Malaysian Zhalif Zulkifli, the former women’s World Bowler of the Year, triumphed in the distaff side, turning back Korea’s Cha Mi Jung, 218-174, in the final.

Irene Benitez and Ces Yap qualified in the women’s masters but never got past the stepladder finals.

Del Rosario, ranked ninth in the world and the best bet among the RP women bowlers, was a disappointment this time, crashing out for a spot in the women’s master final.

Nonetheless, coach Johnson Cheng was pleased with the way the RP squad performed, saying the Filipino bowlers "are on course" in their Asiad bid.

He pointed to Malaysia and host Korea as among the Philippines’ rivals for the gold medals in the coming quadrennial meet.