‘X’ Strikers outclass Pin Pals to end 3-game losing streakKUWAIT CITY, Aug 19: With limited numbers of Class A/B Arab bowlers this tournament was considered an all-Filipino competition. Majority of the Filipino keglers that will join the forthcoming GCC-AFBT in Oman were all members of the team that are competing in this on-going tourney. In the third week of the elimination round of the Philippine Bowling Association in Kuwait-2018 Invitational Bowling Cup held at COZMO Recreation and Bowling Center in Kheifan, the teams that registered victory were Pongky Strikers, “X” Strikers and Swooping Eagles while the reason for the slumped of the three lower teams were playing undermanned since the start of the competition.Unpredictable Pongky Strikers registered its third winning streak against the winless SKARZ who played  with depleted lineup with the score of 2,816-2,400. Winning the 3-game series 908-808, 902-821, 981-773 kept holding the second spot. Pongky Strikers top scorers were the husband and wife tandem as Gener (464) and Imelda Calingasan (424) followed by Jocelyn Barros (371), Jess Tolentino (334), Jhon Narvasa (285) and Chat Sarne (234) while SKARZ 3-man team were Eden Danan (388), Ignastius Fernandes (373) and Lionel Mendes (355).One of the potential champion in this league the Cozmo Lane Masters remain holding the top rank position for three successive weeks after squelching the undermanned NUSANTARA 3,009-2,423 who was dropped to number eight position. The 3-game series scores were 964-771, 965-840, 1,055-812 in favor of COZMO headed by Noe Mahayag with 548 points while Ibrahim Al Dubayan contributed 544 points, Ruben Cervantes (525), Aris de Guzman (328), Lito Michael (308) and Bader Malalah (298). In NUSANTARA’s side Ahmad Fahmi finished with 423 points while Gantosori Tanjung shared 379, Benyamin Hasan 354 and Nuki M. 343 points respectively.Swooping Eagles grasped the advantage of exterminating the X-Pin DBowls (2852-2687) who fielded just three players without their bowler superstars. In the first and second games of the series the scores were 1,055-858, 984-896 in favor of the Eagles. Over-confident with 28 marks advantage the Swooping Eagles played carefree that resulted insignificantly 788 points against their opponents 933 points. Swooping Eagles high scorer was Riz Roque (506) followed by Alonzo Bush (460), Mona Corpuz (438), Jessica Balagat (436) and Danny Solis (250) while X-Pin DBowls had Fadi Masri (551), Rudy de Lima (487) and Alma Turley (436). With the win-lose result, the Eagles remain holding the sixth post while X-Pin down to fifth place.Finally, after losing its first two week assignments “X” Strikers avoided a three game losing streak and team captain Joe Presenta was overwhelmed after ending the slump destroying Pin Pals with the score of 2,808-2,606. In the first game Pin Pals outscored the “X” Strikers 919-883 but in the second game Joe’s ward retaliated and won the game 878-829 with 32 points advantage. In the final game the Strikers buried the hatchet with the score of 997-833. Joe Presenta notched 556 points assisted by Rocky Castil (453), Cris Carungay (430), Abel Nitikusumo (289), Imelda Daguio (219) and Bima Nitikusumo (217) while Pin Pals high scorer was Raj Reddy (433) assisted by Allan Fernandes (423), Agnello Fernandes (401), Neeta Fernandes (361) and Travis Rodrigues (339). Playing bye was TGIF team and the bowlers were Mar Evangelista (485), Pilar Patula (475), Eddie Pena (468), Sam Behbehani (450) and Rene Marzan (410).Meanwhile, the ranking in the first week was: 1. COZMO (2,941); 2. X-Pin DBowls (2,917); 3. Pongky Strikers (2,714); 4. TGIF (2,713); 5. Swooping Eagles (2,688); 6. “X” Strikers (2,667); 7. Pin Pals (2,611); 8. NUSANTARA (2,438) and 9. SKARZ (2,410).Third Round Standings: 1. COZMO Lane Masters (8818); 2. Pongky Strikers (8437); 3. TGIF (8386); 4. “X” Strikers (8218); 5. X-Pin DBowls (8153); 6. Swooping Eagles (8128); 7. Pin Pals (7799); 8. NUSANTARA (7682); and SKARZ (7239).By Rocky DG Delos Reyes