KUWAIT CITY, Jan 10: As the Philippine Bowling Association in Kuwait ushers the New Year with high hopes, a young and budding pin buster caught the eye of veteran keglers when JP Genciana clinched the 2012 PBAK One-Day Tournament held at the Cozmo Bowling Center in Khaifan. The vastly improved lefty JR Sabado who was on top midway the 6-game series event settled for the first runner position while grabbing the second runner up plum was Rocky Castil who nipped Rommel Genciana at the wire.
At the onset of the 6-game series competition where the final ranking will be based on the total scratch plus handicap scores of the participating bowlers, Rommel Genciana (431) rolled games of 202 and 219 in the first two games take a super slim 1-pin lead over zero handicapped JR Sabado (430) who submitted 228 and 202. Aqeel Farisy with 395 was also not far behind the two early leaders followed closely by Ibrahim Aslawi-393, Ric Marimla-390, Jp Genciana-388, Toto Abear-384 and Philip Marimla-381.

The rest of the contenders with their respective 2-game total scores were Rico Baluyot-377, Mousa Abdullah-374, Ramon Mesina-368, Uly Menezes-363, Nelson de Leon-358, Rocky Castil-358, Edwin De Mesa-357, Emma Gatus-353, Mike Garcia-348, Amado Garcia-334, Kevin Yap-333, Anastasius Menezes-332, Ed Mendoza-332, Dariel Cartas-326, Romy Fermil-326, Romy Daus-322, Ted Yap-314, Janet Shaikh-304, Kiko Andaya-288 and Joel Fernandes-247.
At the halfway mark, Jr Sabado took over the number one position by carding a 3-game series of score of 622 pin falls. Ibrahim Aslawi also moved into contention at this point after his 211 score in game three lifted him to second place just 3 pins behind the leader with 619 pin falls. Erstwhile front runner Rommel Genciana on the other hand dropped down to third with 607 followed by his son JP Genciana-593, Nelson de Leon-578, Edwin de Mesa-573, Mike Garcia-568, Toto Abear-567 and Rico Baluyot-564. After another game, the three pace setters retained their respective positions with JR Sabado (808) stretching his lead to 2 marks over Ibrahim Aslawi (791). Still in contention going to the last two games of the series were, Edwin de Mesa-769, JP Genciana-763, Romy Fermil-759, Philip Marimla-758, Nelson de Leon-753 and Janet Shaikh-752.

The result of the penultimate game gave the leader board a make-over as JP Genciana who bowled a 200 in this game stormed into the lead with a total 5-game series score of 973 pin falls. Not to be outdone at this stage was JP’s father Rommel Genciana who set the stage for a 1-2 finish after his 177 put him up in second place with 962 pin falls. Out of nowhere lady kegler Janet Shaikh (957) snatched third place while JR Sabado (954) crashed landed to fourth after garnering a meager 146 in game 5. With still a game left to bowl the quest for the title was still wide open among the remaining contenders namely Rico Baluyot-953, Ramon Mesina-952, Ibrahim Aslawi-949, Philip Marimla-948, Rocky Castil-947 and Edwin de Mesa-944. Like a well seasoned kegler, the youthful JP Genciana defied the odds and went on to clinch the title by closing out with a tenacious 193 in game 6 that brought his final winning tally to 1176 pin falls. JR Sabado meanwhile recovered from his mediocre performance in game 5 to grab the first runner up post with 1139 pin falls to his name. In the tightly contested second runner up position, Rocky Castil edged Rommel Genciana for the prize at stake by a single pin 1136-1135. The rest of the participants checked in as follows, Ramon Mesina-1133, Janet Shaikh1122-, Aqeel Farisy-1118, Ibrahim Aslawi-1114, Romy Fermil-1108, Nelson de Leon-1104, Rico Baluyot-1103, Toto Abear-1103, Mike Garcia-1103, Mousa Abdullah-1091, Philip Marimla-1086, Uly Menezes-1082, Edwin de Mesa-1076, Ric Marimla-1067, Ted Yap-1042, Ed Mendoza-1041, Romy Daus-1007, Emma Gatus-1001, Dariel Cartas-977, Kiko Andaya-976,Kevin Yap-972, Anastasius Menezes-912, Amado Garcia-898 and Joel Fernandes-815.