MANILA, Philippines - Jong Lapid Enriquez of Quezon City scored a perfect game or 12 straight strikes in one bowling game to ensure at least a share of the juicy P500,000 prize dangled for every similar achievement in the ninth SM Bowling Cup.
The 40-year old Enriquez, who has been bowling since 18, accomplished this feat in his second qualifying game of the ongoing Lipton leg at SM North Edsa Bowling Center on June 11.
If no one duplicates his perfect game until the third leg (Pepsi grand national finals) on Dec.18, Enriquez takes home the entire prize for himself.
Lipton and Pepsi are the sponsors of the ninth SM Bowling Cup’s second and third phases where P4 million in cash prizes and three cars are at stake, including a Chery A5 which Enriquez said he is targeting in the national finals set August 22.
Enriquez, a father of four and a water treatment company employee, has been participating in the SM Bowling Cup since 2003.
He said he felt very nervous on his 10th frame as “Stop Bowling” was declared on all other lanes right after his ninth strike.
He jumped in absolute excitement when he got his 12th strike and believes his wife, who watched from the gallery, proved to be his lucky charm for the day. Believing that this year’s SM Bowling Cup has one of the best formats with the use of handicaps, Enriquez expressed gratitude to SM for its continuous support to bowling.
He advises and encourages bowlers to participate in the SM Bowling Cup as he knows a lot of previous bowlers who rolled perfect games but it was not covered by any of the stages of the SM Bowling Cup and thus did not qualify them to a share of the prize.