FROM No. 4, two-peat champion Gabriel Velasco climbed his way back to the finals to defend his title in the Datba Bowler of the Year 2019 grand finals held Sunday, January 19, at the SM Lanang Premier Bowling Center.
Velasco, 24, toppled twice-to-beat Kert Palces, 201-167, in the sudden death of their step-the-ladder championship showdown. The champion, however, forgot the score of the first game where he first defeated Palces. "Halos same lang din ata ang score ng first game sa second game," he said.
Velasco, who also won the 2018 Bowler of the Year championship trophy, grabbed the fourth spot after the six-game eliminations. He, who had a ten handicap hit a total of 1,163 to trail behind Palces (1,206), Arthur John Galendez (1,088) and Ivan Awid (1,190) who placed first, second and third, respectively. Palces had a handicap of 24, Galendez with 13 and Awid with 20.
In the step-the-ladder finals, No.4 Velasco escaped past No. 3 Awid, 216-213, before demolishing No. 2 Galendez, 231-205, enroute to arranging a finals clash against Palces.
"Happy ako kasi nag two-peat ako pero di ako masyado nag-expect na manalo kasi syempre magaling din yung iba, and ako ang may pinakamaliit na handicap. During step ladder game eh lamang na yung kalaban ko simula palang kasi dahil sa high handicaps," Velasco said in a Facebook interview with VoxPop Davao yesterday, January 21.
(I'm happy because I got two-peat but I did not expect to win because, of course other players are also great and I have the least handicap. During step ladder game, my opponent had already the advantage since the start because of high handicaps.)
He said he felt a building pressure in the step-the-ladder round.
"Nasa fourth place po ako so mahirap din ma siguro kung mananalo ba ako and maka advance sa next match pero nag-focus lang talaga ako Maam. I just played my usual game and handled the pressure lang po," the graduating nursing student of Davao Doctors College added.
(I am in the fourth place so it is difficult to secure to win and advance in the next match but I just really focus. I just played my usual game and handled the pressure properly.)
Velasco, who was Datba May 2019 monthly finals champion, pocketed a cash prize of P20,000 for his feat while Palces got P12,000 while Galendez took home P8,000 and Awid claimed P5,000. They also received trophies in the event organized by the Davao Tenpin Bowlers Association (Datba).
