MANILA, Philippines - Dianne Galendez won the best-of-three games in the grand finals of the first SM Bowling Millionaires Cup and pocketed a whopping P2 million and a brand-new Chevrolet Sonic at SM Megamall’s Activity Center Mega Fashion Hall recently.
Nelia Santos placed second and took home P500,000 while Teresita Eusebio and Lorenzo Mendoza finished third and fourth and received P250,000 and P150,000, respectively, in the richest tournament in Philippine bowling history.
The fifth to 16th placers also received P25,000 each.
Designed to revive the Filipinos’ passion for bowling, the SM Bowling Millionaires Cup was a month-long nationwide tournament open to all amateur bowlers and held across all eight bowling centers in SM Fairview, SM North EDSA, SM Valenzuela, SM Mega Mall, SM South Mall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Cebu and SM Lanang Davao.
The event was organized by the SM Bowling and Leisure Center in cooperation with the Philippine Bowling Congress.
The top bowling contenders emerged from a pool of 145 aspirants with the top two after the grueling elims slugging it out in the grand finals of the event held in celebration of the SM Bowling and Leisure Center’s 25th anniversary.
“We are very happy with the turnout of the first SM Bowling Millionaires Cup,” said former World Cup champion CJ Suarez, who is now SM Bowling division manager. “With the success of the Millionaires Cup, we hope to hold the tournament to serve as springboard for young bowlers.”