Stephen Solomon of Habagat and Gine Ventura of Mandirigma grabbed the limelight by bagging the men’s and ladies Bowler of the Week award during the 10th session in the Unified Filipino Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh (UFTBR)-Etihad Airways Tuesday Bowling League at the Universal Bowling Center (UBC) here.
Solomon bowled the high series of 923 and led Habagat to a 21-8 victory over Thrill Seekers and the Team of the Week plum. The win also allowed Habagat to regain the second spot in the team standings. Also contributing to the Habagat win were Rico Feria (887), Steve Perez (785), Noel Marquez (426), Fathi Abdulaziz (404), Cecille Solomon (389) and Art Palustre (334). Ventura’s series of 779 was also instrumental in their team’s 17-8 win over Dabarkads.
In other matches , Ayaw Na clobbered Pin Hitters 14-4, Lane Cruiser upset defending champion Kamahalan 15-7, SABB Advance defeated SACO Bolts 13-9, Pin Pals won over Vinnell Arabia 18-8 and league leader NBA sustained its winning streak by beating Unica 19-12.
Ronald Bautista increased his lead in the MVP race Group 1 with an average of 221.61 followed by Arnold Jesena (214.5) and Ernee Noto (212.05). In the Group 2 MVP race, Ryan Iñigo still leads with an average of 196.11 followed by Shawn Rickett (187.90) and Fathi Abdulaziz at third (185.96).
The league’s main sponsor is Etihad Airways, the national airlines of UAE and one of the fastest growing airlines in the Middle East which will offer three return tickets in Coral Economy Class, 2 for Manila and 1 for any Etihad Airways online destination to top individual achievers at the end of the league. The league management team representing UFTBR is composed of Cesar De Mesa, Armin Isles, Dennis Durens, Ian Choco, Ruby Urrutia, Jim Dela Rosa, Art Palustre, Nap Torres and Pau Feria.
Sunday league, Haj Goodwill Games
Meantime, Noto, UFTBR chairman, is inviting bowlers once again to participate in the resumption of UFTBR’s Sunday Bowling League which is set to start last week of September and the annual Haj Goodwill Games to be held during the Haj break in October.
Team standings as of Week 8: 1. NBA 182 points 2. Habagat 158 3. Unica 155 4. Kamahalan 154 5. SABB Advanced 146 6. Ayaw Na 144 7. Lane Cruiser 128 8. SACO Bolts 126 9. Mandirigma 121 10. Pin Pals 113 11. Vinnell Arabia 111 12. Pin Hitters 110 13. Thrill Seekers 90 14. Dabarkads 68
Solomon, Ventura shine in Etihad Airways Bowling League
Solomon, Ventura shine in Etihad Airways Bowling League
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
