VETERAN Raoul Miranda started strong and then held off a fierce comeback by Nicco Olaivar to move into the final day of the Quibica/AMF Bowling World Cup national finals on top of the remaining eight-man field at Paeng’s Midtown Bowl.
Miranda shot 256, 258 and 236 in the first three of 12 second-round games to chalk up 5091 pinfalls after 24 games. Miranda’s other games were 245, 229, 222, 220, 217, 206, 201 and 173.
Miranda finished 124 pins ahead of Olaivar, who rallied with 249, 263, 247, 212 and 266 from the 20th game, after rolling 206, 189, 246, 195, 213, 214 and 202.
Merwin Tan, 17-year-old member of the Philippine team who led after the opening 12 games with 2478, dropped to third with 4937 as he stumbled with a 174 in the 24th game.
Jay R. Tan came in fourth with 4861, followed by Sammy Say Sy (4827), Paulo Valdez (4766), Alex Ngoi (4710) and Kevin Cu (4675).
Thirty-four lady aspirants headed by well-known international campaigner Liza del Rosario rolled 10 more games yesterday also at Paeng’s Midtown Bowl in a bid to join Miranda and company in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final competitions tomorrow at the SM North Edsa center in Quezon City.
The men’s and ladies’ champions will represent the Philippines in the 2016 BWC international finals scheduled on October 14-23 at Hao’s Bowling Center in Shanghai, China.
Del Rosario is aiming for another shot at the international crown, having played in last year’s World event at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada together with former FIQ World titlist Biboy Rivera.