Socrisar Guese sets sight on his target; Royce Padua with his trophy and cash prize

CAINTA, Rizal — Socrisar Guese of ACTBA finally realized a dream to win a major title in his bowling career.

On Sunday, Guese ruled the Senior Associate Masters division in the 26th Sletba-Liza Zapanta Open Championships at the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall Bowling Centre in Cainta.

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It was not an easy feat, though. Guese started out in third place in the first two games, but faltered in the next two to fall into 14th place. He recovered with a 247 in the fifth, then coasted along till the eight and last game to end up with a total score of 1,733 to clinch the title.

Jimmy Villaflor of PBA emerged 1st runnerup with 1,649, followed by Jun Orlina of TBAM-Starbuko with 1,641, and Edel Ocampo (1,627) and Charles Calamba (1,618), both of Sletba-GMTBC.

“I’m happy I won. I have not been doing very well in my games in Angeles City. I think my style and the balls I used were just right to fit into the lanes here and in the oiling pattern,” said Guese, a Filipino-American who has decided to settle in the Philippines for good.

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On Saturday night, Royce Padua of PBA dominated the Mixed Youth Masters finals with a 7-game total score of 1,488.

Ashton Lorenzo of Sletba-Bowler X was first runnerup with 1,464; Matthew Doria of Sletba was 2nd runnerup with 1,429; Sean Esmilla of PBA was 3rd runnerup with 1,399, and Alexa Nuqui of PBA was 4th runnerup with 1,366.

The 26th Sletba Open, which is sanctioned by the Philippine Bowling Federation (PBF) is currently holding the finals of the Open Masters division featuring players from the national team.

The tournament, Sletba’s biggest event this year, drew a record number of participants at 289 and record number of 28 participating associations affiliated with PBF.