By Jonathan V. Perez
Variety News Staff

IT will be the men’s turn to hit the bowling lanes on Sunday in the finals of the King of the Lanes roll-off with the top 36 bowlers, based on the Bowler Ranking System, vying for the title at the Saipan Bowling Center.
Top qualifier Robert Talavera, who collected 1,817 points in various Saipan Bowling Association-organized tournaments, will try to claim the only trophy missing in his collection.
Talavera won three monthly titles in the Pepsi King of the Lanes, bagged the May Masters crown, led numerous teams to championships and became the CNMI’s two-time perfect gamer last year.
Twice he came close of winning the King of the Lanes finals but Mark Halstead and Richard Leong were there to foil his title bids in 2004 and 2005.
Leong, who finished second in the BRS points with 1,672, is gunning for a second straight King of the Lanes crown.
The top 12 will wait for the three-game roll-off of the 13th to 36th finishers. The top 12 after the roll-off will join the 12 automatic qualifiers in a nine-game series where the best six bowlers will move on into the step-ladder finals.
Aside from Talavera and Leong, Raul Dumapit, Dannie Robles, Edgar Talavera, Alex Cacdac, Arnel R. Del Roasrio, Paul Pangelinan, Simon Manacop, Raymond Zapanta, Kitz Barja and Raymond Angeles were the other bowlers who made it into the top 12 automatic qualifiers.
You must have played in six or more monthly roll-offs in order to qualify for the King of the Lanes.
In the step-ladder finals, the top two bowlers will draw a bye while they wait for their opponents. Number three will face number six with the winner earning the right to face the second seed. The winner in the game between number four and number five will take on number one.
The winners of those games will vie for the title of the Pepsi King of the Lanes.
Last Sunday, Jan. 7, Gina Sablan and Jeremy Williams captured the Queen and Prince of the Lanes titles in the finals of the year-long tenpin bowling tournament also held at SBC.
Sablan defeated 16-year old Vales, 167-140, in the finals to earn the 2006 Queen of the Lanes crown while in the youth league, the third-ranked Williams and the fourth-seeded Zack Cruz arranged a finals showdown after knocking off the top two finishers.
Williams then pulled off a 181-172 victory over Cruz in the finals to claim the inaugural Prince of the Lanes title.