1 day Ago By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
CHALLENGER Emiliza “Emz” Yap Salvador stunned twice to beat veteran Art Galendez in the championship match to capture the title at the Datba 2024 Tournament of Champions (ToC) held on Sunday, January 5, 2024, at the SM Lanang bowling center. August champion Salvador, a 40-year-old bank employee, defeated Desperados titlist and top ToC qualifier Galendez in two games, 198-184 and 192-166, earning the champion’s purse of P20,000. Galendez settled for the runner-up prize of P12,000.
Salvador’s husband, Kim, took third place and P7,000, while Katherine Lee finished fourth, securing P5,000. The event was organized by the Davao Tenpin Bowlers Association (Datba). "Since bago pa ako sa Datba, I did not imagine that I would become a champion.
I only prayed before playing na sana makapasok man lang as a runner-up (Since I'm new to Datba, I never imagined I would become a champion. I just prayed before playing, hoping I could at least make it as a runner-up)," she said. Galendez led the nine-game qualifying round with 1,770 pinfalls, followed by Kim (1,767) in second, Salvador (1,761) in third, and Lee (1,720) in fourth.
In the shootout game, Salvador scored 201, edging out Lee (200) and Kim (153), which secured her spot in the finals against Galendez. "I was just trying to aim to play above my average para ma at par sa ibang players and to have the chance to be in the top four. May mga game ako na mababa pero every game, I always try to cope to cover my low games.
Di naman talaga super high game ang games ko during qualifying pero buti nalang it was sufficient to be in the top four after nine games (I was aiming to play above my average to stay competitive with the other players and have a chance to make the top four. I had some low-scoring games, but I always tried to recover. My scores weren’t exceptionally high during qualifying, but thankfully, they were enough to secure a spot in the top four after nine games)," Salvador said.
She admitted that playing against seasoned champions, many of whom are her bowling idols, was challenging. "I just really tried my best to make good shots," she said. Salvador began learning the sport in 2023, initially using a house ball provided by the venue.
By June 2023, she had her own ball. She and Kim started bowling for fun before joining the Bankers Bowling Tournament in 2022, which led them to join Datba. Salvador dedicated her victory to God, her husband Kim, and their daughter Keezhia.
MLSA.
