Clutario guns for Masters title

Liza Clutario proved steadier among the world’s best lady bowlers in a day of changing fortunes as she came through with a 3573 to top the gruelling 16-game round robin series of the Masters event in the 15th World Tenpin Bowling Championships Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A day after she bagged a bronze in the women’s all events Thursday, Clutario worked from fourth position (1798) after the first block and churned out a 1725 to emerge the best among the three players who will vie the crown in the stepladder finals today.

"We in the PBC are extremely proud of our athletes. All the hard work of the coaches, officials and most especially the athletes have paid off. We are truly blessed and we dedicate all our winnings to our country," said Philippine Bowling Congress chief Steve Hontiveros, who was recently elected as the new FIQ president.

Clutario, who with Liza del Rosario and Cecilia Yap won the gold in the women’s trios Wednesday, averaged 217 average to top Diandra Hyman of the USA and Lee Eun Ock of Korea who finished second and third with 3570 and 3551, respectively.

Going into 16th and last game of the masters, Clutario was ranked fourth. Her last game of 257 plus 10 pins bonus sent her to the top spot by a mere three pins. She will bowl the winner of the match between Hyman and Lee over a two-game total.

It was actually Del Rosario who topped the first block of the two-block series as she rolled a near-perfect game of 290 in the fourth game to seize the provisional lead with an 1854. But she failed to sustain her momentum in the last nine games and settled for fourth place with 3530.

Yap finished in 11th place with 3192.

Pending the result of today’s event, this is by far the best performance of the Philippine team in the world championships. Adding icing to the cake is the fact that Hontiveros was elected by acclamation as the FIQ president last week. FIQ is the highest governing body of bowling in the world.

Head coach Johnson Cheng commented: "This is the Olympics of bowling. The field is really tough and our athletes are performing in a world arena. This is truly great for bowling in the Philippines. I started my program 5 years ago to bring the juniors up the ranks and this the fruit of all our hard work and determination. We still have one more medal on the way and I really like our chances here," said head coach Johnson Cheng.