BELIEVE it or not, Art Barrientos, who emerged as the star of the Philippine team that saw action in the just-concluded 42nd Asian Youth Bowling Championships in Thailand, nearly gave up on his budding bowling career when he experienced several lows.
“Sobrang pangit ‘yung performance ko in the past tournaments, minsan naisip ko, worth it pa ba kung itutuloy ko ito?” Barrientos, 18, said after completing a golden double at the Blu-0 Rhythm and Bowl Center in Bangkok.
Thankfully, he stayed and persevered. Flourishing under the tutelage of American bowling coach Joe Slowinski, the bespectacled bowler topped the boys’ masters’ finals, capping a sensational two-gold win in the tourney, counting his and his teammates’ victory in the boys’ team event earlier.
Egged on by a small but lively Filipino backers, Barrientos toppled Australian top seed Blake Walsh 443-349 in the two-match finals of the masters’ event, completing his rise from No. 3 in the eliminations to the summit.
Banking on a three-bagger — three straight strikes in a row — in the first match, Barrientos seized the lead and scored a 206-180 win, then stepped it up in the next match, scoring five straight strikes en route to a lopsided 237-169 tally.
Barrientos had earlier outlasted fancied South Korean No. 2 seed Lee Myeongchol 205-191 in the stepladder semis to gain a crack at Walsh, who bowls with two hands like compatriot and former world champion Jason Belmonte.
It was an epic achievement by Barrientos, who duplicated the double-gold meat feat of Biboy Rivera, who took the singles and masters titles in the 1996 edition of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Three days earlier, he had teamed up with Zach Sales Ramin, Marc Dylan Custodio, and Stephen Diwa to bag the team gold, a first for the country in the tournament in 42 years.
With the two mints, the Philippines emerged the overall champion in the boys’ division and, combined with the girls’ play, was third overall among the 16 countries that saw action in the meet behind South Korea (3-4-1) and Malaysia (2-3-1).
“Honestly, it still hasn’t sunk in. Sobrang speechless po ako. Ewan ko kung nananaginip ako, sobrang saya ko ngayon!” enthused Barrientos, who thanked the animated Filipino gallery in inspiring him to victory.
“All the things that we worked on for weeks finally came into play this week. We talked about not losing your emotional control, and the guys, especially Art, did that, trusting the process to be at our best,” Slowinski said.
“It is really more about accepting after the ball has left your hand. And understanding ball motions so you make moves pro-actively. If you have a clear mind, you can execute a better shot,” the American tactician explained. “If you saw the finals and the semifinals, our lane adjustments were significantly important to the success of Art.”
Among those who crowed about the accomplishments of the national squad was PSC Commissioner and bowling legend Bong Coo, who had risked her own reputation in hiring the American mentor to shake up the country’s declining bowling program.
“Rebuilding bowling on the way. Praise God! I am so proud of our youth bowlers, BBM, bida ang bayaning manlalaro! I thank the youth team for a magnificent showing!! Art was awesome!!! exclaimed Coo, who watched the livestream of Barrientos’ splendid showing.
Slowinski, who was tapped by the Philippine Bowling Federation early this year to take over the coaching chores for the national team, reminded everyone that “what we need to understand is that it’s a long-term process.”
