KUWAIT CITY, March 1: Championship round hopefuls Klasmeyts Al Khada Kana and Air Safari virtually assured themselves of a place in the elite 8 after winning their respective penultimate week matches in the on-going PBAK 2011 Cozmo-Western Union-Al Muzaini Exchange 7th Conference Tenpin Bowling League being held at the Cozmo Bowling Center in Khaifan. League leader K2E2 on the other hand looked all set to bag the Top Qualifier Award after sailing to another convincing victory and also shining in their week 20 matches were Western Union, World Class and the two teams of Cozmo.
Taking a timely penultimate round bye, Klasmeyts Al Khadda Kana gave their title retention bid a big boost as they turned in the best team output of the week. Taking advantage of the situation where all the bonus pin falls on hand will be added to their scratch plus handicap score, Bong Bermillo, Bene Crucero, Emma Gatus, Romy Daus and Rudy Zablan dished out game scores of 987, 910 and 1,108 in garnering a total score of 3,030 pin falls. As an added bonus, Klasmeyts also clinched the Team of the Week Award after their sterling team effort. Meanwhile, Air Safari who peaked at the closing stage of the league’s elimination round is now on the verge of advancing to championship round after clobbering another strong title contender the king pins of Xpress Rollers 2,957-2,774. Out to keep their place on the leader board, Caloy Garay, Tony Zuleta, Hermie Saliba, Carmen Toliver and team captain Joe Simmons grounded the traveling pin busters in game one of the match to grab a 996-857 lead. In game two, Air Safari found the runway clear and started their preparation for takeoff by beating Xpress Rollers 938-843. Piloted by Abdullah Faili, Tony Bustria, Edwin de Mesa, Toto Abear, Sonia Mathews and Kiko Andaya, Air Safari’s performance soared in game three where they brushed off the challenge of the Rollers with a staggering 1,137-935 rout.

Tough as a reinforced concrete, the K2E2 Thunders affirmed their intention of ending their elimination round campaign at the top of the 21-team field by collecting an easy 2,944-2,546 win over the Raging Bols. Boasting an evenly balanced lineup, K2E2 showed their readiness for the upcoming finals as indicated by their three to nothing demolition of the Raging Bols. Taking care of the scoring load for the Thunders in their 1,005-845, 900-851 and 1,014-850 sweep of the 3-game series match were Alex Cervantes, Boy Lorino, Cris Bulacja, Danny San Juan, Edwin Latoja, Joan Balla and Ning Cervantes. Moving on the matches involving teams who are just a step away from the next round, Cozmo 1 continued its extra ordinary rise to the elite 8 when they recovered from an opening game loss in stopping D’ Islanders 2,928-2,673. Bannered by Bert Pantanilla, Bobby Carambas, Danny Doctor, Marilyne Mariano and Agnes Noble, D’ Islanders surprisingly eked out a 929-866 game one victory over the slow starting Cozmo 1. Awakened by the loss, Ayad Al Amiri, Aga Cuadrazal, Aldin Avila, Wilmer Linga and Maricar Ruben returned with vengeance in the next two games where they annihilated their rivals 1026-822 and 1011-922. Not to be outdone was Cozmo 2 who also emerged with a convincing 2920-2630 decision over the Indian Strikers.
In clinching the outcome of the match, Cozmo 2 cornered the Indians in the first two games of the match via 978-772 and 1,021-881 scores. However, the spicy Indian Strikers deprive Cozmo 2 the chance to go home with all three games in their pocket by coming up with an impressive 977-896 victory in game three. The other two front runners, Siete Pares and World Class kept their second and third posts after turning back Boss and Mega World respectively. The other matches of the week were completed as follows, Western Union Money Transfer defeated an undermanned Swooping Eagles 2,939-2,524, Nusantara upset LEAF 2,795-2,632, Emirates Airlines grounded Frost Real Estate 2,858-2,765 and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait out bowled Sahara 2,789-2,657.
In the Individual and Team High records, the current holders are as follows: Individual High Game Men O-Ayad Al Amiri 277, Men B-Cris Bulacja 278, Men B-Ahmad Gofar 236, Ladies A-Carmen Toliver 221, Ladies B-Carol Awadi 225, Individual High Average Men O-Fadel Qassem 189, Men A-Noe Mahayag 185, Men B-Lloyd Fernandes 168, Ladies A-Blanca Mercado 172, Ladies B-Emma Gatus 163, Trio High Series (Scratch + Handicap)-Cozmo-1 (Ayad Al Amiri, Aga Cuadrazal, Maricar Ruben) 722, Doubles High Series (Scratch + Handicap)-Klasmeyts Khadda Kana (Romulo Surema, Ronnel Valencia) and Western Union (Tito Tamayo, Jane Nance) 470, Team High Game (Scratch)-World Class 1,020 and Team High Series (Scratch + Handicap)-Xpress Rollers 3,003.
The team standings after the penultimate round are as follows (read as rank, team name and average score per game), 1. K2E2-953, 2. Siete Pares-949, 3. World Class-947, 4. Air Safari-944, 5. Cozmo 1-943, 6. Klasmeyts Al Khadda Kana-939, 7. Cozmo 2-937, 8. Xpress Rollers-935, 9. Frost Real Estate-932, 10. Emirates Airlines-929, 11. ABK-928, 12. Western Union-924, 13. Swooping Eagles-922, 14. D’ Islanders-922. 15. Mega World-912, 16. LEAF-908, 17. BOSE-905, 18. Raging Bols-903, 19. Indian Strikers-901, 20. Sahara-880, 21. Nusantara-855.