This was the fate of the Philippine campaign as three of the five RP bets barged into the quarterfinal round of the 2002 Aviva Asian Bowling Tour Grand Slam Finals at the Cathay Bowl Safra Resort here.
The coach-player duo of Purvis Granger and Chester King finished second and third places in the men’s division with a total pinfall of 3941 and 3935, respectively, while Liza del Rosario sustained her superb game by finishing fifth in the women’s side with an aggregate score of 3299.
Irene Garcia-Benitez and four-time World Cup champion Paeng Nepomuceno, in contrast, were not as steady.
The beauteous Benitez, a two-time semifinalist in the preliminary legs, unleashed a masterful game in Friday’s final phase of the eliminations but could only finish ninth with a 3079, 77 pinfalls off the eighth and last semifinal qualifier, Japanese Hiroko Shimizu (3156).
Nepomuceno, on the other hand, could not recover from a disappointing opening day effort, finishing at 10th and last place with a 2538.
"I’m so happy with my performance because it gave me confidence going into my quarterfinal game," said del Rosario, part of the women’s team that finished with a silver medal in Busan.
Del Rosario, a finalist in the Manila leg, clashes with Malaysian Wendy Chai, who placed second behind compatriot Lai Kin Ngoh (3423) with a 3399.
Lai tackles Shimizu while another Malaysian, Shalin Zulkifli, who rolled a near-perfect 299 in her 13th game for a 3326, collides with countryman Choy Poh Lai (3219).
Completing the women’s pairing is the game between Singapore’s Yap Seok Kim (3320) and Korean Koo Hyun Jee (3165).
King, who fell from No. 1 to 3 after losing his 17th and final game, challenges Aussie Andrew Frawley (3696) while his coach, Granger, battles Korean yoon Dal Young (3632).
Guam’s Duane Camacho, a first timer whose grandfather is a Filipino, clinched the last berth with a 3524 and is pitted against elims topnotcher Singaporean Remy Ong (3722), a triple gold medalist in Busan including the Masters conquest.
Rounding up the men’s quarterfinals are Malaysian Zulmazran Zulkifli (3800) and Thai Teerapol Sajjaraktrakul (3602).
This four-day event is sponsored by Aviva Asia with support from Royal Selangor, AMF, ESPN and the Singapore Tourism Board.