NATIONAL bowler Merwin Tan scored his first major overseas win of the season yesterday (Sunday in the US), beating multi-titled veteran PJ Haggerty 216-203 in the finals to bag the men’s masters title in the PBA Bowlers Academy Open at the Bowlero Bowling Center in Clovis, California.
Accompanied by newly-appointed American national bowling head coach Joe Slowinski, the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist bested a 19-time Professional Bowlers Academy Regional champion, according to former bowling legend and PSC Commissioner Bong Coo.
“We are extremely delighted over Merwin’s triumph in this tough tournament featuring top American bowlers in the PBA,” said Coo, “which augurs well for his preparations for this year’s major events like the Hangzhou Asian Games and World Championships.”
She revealed that Tan pocketed $2,500 (roughly P134,997) for his efforts, adding the bowler would continue his tour in the US to hone him further for major international competitions ahead.
Tan had earlier topped the 13-game qualifying series with a score of 2946 pinfalls for a 226.36 average to secure the No. 1 seed while Haggerty (2905-223.46) wound up runner-up and the No. 2 seed.
The Pinoy southpaw beat No. 8 seed Nickolas Freiberg 258-188, 236-243, 248-190 at the start of the playoffs then took out Brandon King 222-214, 213-218, 247-209 in the semis to set up a showdown with Haggerty for the championship trophy.
