Tabora, Layoso pace W Cup bowling finals

MANILA, Philippines - Prodigious Krizziah Tabora moved a step closer to a back-to-back title by opening a big lead over seven other remaining contenders in the 2013 Bowling World Cup national finals after the second round Wednesday at Paeng’s Midtown lanes.

The 22-year-old Tabora, who represented the Philippines in last year’s international finals in Wroclaw, Poland, posted 4255 pinfalls after rolling a 10-game series of 2055 to finish 188 pins ahead of Lara Posadas, who tallied 4067, and 233 over Mades Arles (4052) in the ladies’ competition.

National bowler Benshir Layoso towed seven other bowlers into the men’s quarterfinals by recording 5291 pins with sizzling scores in the 23rd and 24th games.

The 44-year-old Layoso kept his distance over fellow national players Jeremy Posadas (5103), who rolled one of two perfect games Tuesday, and Raoul Miranda (5021).

Unheralded Nicco Olaivar produced the other 300 in the 23rd game to grab the eighth and last quarterfinal spot after hovering around in 14th place.

Nepomuceno, the only four-time winner of the World Cup so far, started with a low game of 150 and failed to mount a rally as he was pulled down by two more forgettable scores of 167 and 173.

The top three in each division will play best-of-three head-to-head matches with the third finisher taking on the No. 2 bowler and the winner advancing to the finals against the top performer.

The champions will carry the Philippine colors in the international finals set on Nov. 15-24 at the Sibiryak Bowling Center in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Tabora, who finished 14th last year in Poland, opened her second 10-game series with a 247 and followed this with 187, 253, 226, 215, 211, 192, 183, 228 and 258.

Layoso was also consistent in his second 12-game series, shooting 233, 217, 236, 269, 257, 203, 188, 201, 194, 257, 266 and 207.