Kenneth Chua and Jomar Jumapao topped the ongoing 2nd PBF Pagcor Philippine International Open to advance to the final round of the men’s open division yesterday at the Coronado Lanes at Starmall, Mandaluyong City.
Chua, the defending champion, rolled a total tournament-best 1522 after combining a series of 804 and 768 during the meet backed by Cafe Puro, Smart Communications and Boysen Paints.
“I’m excited. Honestly, I have never seen this kind of support from the bowling community before,’’ said the 26-year-old Chua.
“For me, this is a perfect environment to retain my title,” added the silver medalist in the men’s singles event during the Asian Indoor Games in Turkmenistan last year.
Jumapao, on the other hand, remained closely behind Chua with 1520 after scoring the first 800 series of the tournament early this week.
Seventeen-year-old Kenzo Umali placed third in the qualifying rounds after compiling 1497 followed by JP Macatula (1476), Merwin Tan (1475) and the comebacking Paolo Valdez with 1467 points.
Umali, a Grade 12 student from Charis School in Marikina City, is also the leading contender in the youth boys’ division, where Shounick Datta of India (1354), Kin Limpo (1353) and Bassam Oraif of Saudi Arabia (1343) are the favorites for the title.
Sam Cooley of Australia topped the six playing visitors with his impressive 1530 points, and will play in today’s final qualifying round.