FORMER Asian Youth champion Art Barrientos found his groove in the last four games yesterday to secure fifth place after the first eight games of the men’s masters’ event of the Asian Bowling Championships at the Blu-O Rhythm and Bowl Center in Bangkok, Thailand.
Qualifying at No. 8 entering the 6-player event, Barrientos found his groove in the last four games of the eight-game first block for 1689 pinfalls and an adjusted score of 1739, plus bonuses, to remain in contention for the coveted masters’ plum with eight more games left to be played today.
The bespectacled kegler had lines of 173, 200, 189, 209, 241, 224, 232 and 225 for a 211.13 average and was 173 points behind Malaysian pacesetter Muhammad Hafiz Zainuddin (1932-235.25) after the first eight games where the top three finishers advance to the stepladder finals today.
South Korean Park Dong Huk (1882-230.25) was running second while Malaysian Rafiq Ismail, who won the men’s singles gold earlier, was in third place (1863-226.63).
Also advancing to the women’s master event was veteran Lara Posadas, who made the 16-player cut at No. 11 and was playing in the first block of eight games at press time.
The Asian kegfest drew 198 men and women bowlers from 20 countries and was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games that Thailand was supposed to hold in November. The games were scrapped due to the lack of government support.
