Valdez upstages San Diego, wrests SLETBA bowl lead

Former national bowler Paolo Valdez lived up to the billing as the man to beat as he grabbed the lead yesterday in the sixth Chinatrust-SLETBA Open Championship at the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall Bowling Center in Cainta.

Valdez, a veteran of Asian and Southeast Asian Games, wrested the top spot in the singles event from erstwhile leader and RP youth standout RJ San Diego with 980 pins in this tournament sponsored by Chinatrust Banking Corporation, Sta. Lucia East Grandmall, Freyssinet, New Solanie Hotel, Fuji Films, and Fortune Tobacco.

The day proved to be an off-night for San Diego who also lost his grip of the lead in the all-events to fellow youth standout and SLETBA-Bowlmart’s Jaclyn Sabater who rolled 2279 pinfalls in 10 games.

Meanwhile, the pair of Tyrone Ongpauco and national bowler Biboy Rivera topped the doubles with 1411.

In the team event, PTBA-Ateneo is ahead in the Graded division with 1900, while SLETBA-OnThe Grill remains strong at 1862 in the associate Masters.

After five days of competition, the perfect game prize of P50,000 is still up for grabs despite a dozen of near misses by several bowlers. An additional incentive of 300 free games at the bowling center will also be awarded by Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.

The competition is expected to heat up as the tournament goes to the homestretch as more than 220 bowlers try to enter the finals scheduled on Sunday and Monday.