BY EARL WRIGHT

JEDDAH — Class A bowler Joel Nidoy finally chased down a Bowler of the Month title on his very last chance during the December leg of the the Overseas Filipino Bowlers Club (OFBC) Bowler of the Month series at the Iceland Bowling Center here.

Also scoring a breakthrough win in the series that culminates in the Bowler of the Year Finals sponsored by Tahweel Integrated was Shiela Monserate in the ladies division.

With the monthlies done, the stage is now set for the BOY Finals where the monthly champions will be joined by qualifiers from the wildcard phase as well as from those advancing direct to the semifinals (wildcard phase winners, loyalty awardees and monthly champions with at least seven-month participation) and finals (3x monthly champion with at least seven-month participation).

The Bowler of the Year grand champion will receive a cash prize plus trophy. The runners-up down to the last finalist will be given consolation prizes.

Nidoy, sustaining the form that helped his team RTJ Baguio Transient House win the OFBC Season 7 Friday Afternoon League championship, went from strength to strength to score a winning five-game series of 1,039 pinfalls.

Nidoy sealed his prodigious display with a scratch effort of 236 in the fifth game that went with his earlier games of 194, 199, 199 and 181. Alex Duma was a distant second to Nidoy on 958 (130, 214, 105, 204 and 145). In third place was Jaime Flores on 954 with Ed Cordova taking the fourth spot on 904.

Monserate carded 890 pinfalls in five games and in the process prevented a potential third win for Duma, who settled at second place on 870. Monserate tallied games of 116, 123, 101 and 135 while Duma’s string featured 135, 143, 115, 132 and 175.

Johara Palot, the player with the most number of monthly wins at four, came in third place this time on 830 with Vangie Lim fourth on 806. All winners received cash prizes during the awards ceremony.