MANILA, Philippines—During a congressional hearing on sports a few years back, multi-titled bowler Paeng Nepomuceno expressed his disappointment over the lawmakers’ little regard for bowling, a non-Olympic sport, by rating it well below sports in the Olympic calendar.
You had to feel sorry for Paeng that awful day. Said he: “I have served the country for nearly four decades and I did not receive nor seek even one centavo in financial assistance from the government for any of my world competitions throughout my career.
“There is no prize money in my tournaments, including the World Cup, in the same way there is none for the Olympics. It suffices that I proudly carry the flag and bring honors to the country and the Filipino people.”
Now 51 years old, he was recently cited for the third time by the Guinness Book of World Records for winning the most number of bowling titles, racking up his 118th career championships. Last Sept. 18, 2007, Nepomuceno won the South Pacific Classic, Australia’s most prestigious tournament in Melbourne, defeating World Tenpin Masters champion Jason Belmonte in the finals.
Coached by his father, Angel “Pappy” Nepomuceno, Paeng first broke into the Guinness record book for winning four World Cup championships in three different decades—in the ’70s (Nov. 19, 1976 in Tehran); the ’80s (Nov. 1, 1980 in Jakarta) and the ’90s (Nov. 8, 1992 at Le Mans, France; and Nov. 23, 1996 in Belfast, Northern Ireland).
He was also honored for being the youngest World Cup champion at 19 when he topped the Tehran kegfest in 1976.
For his victory in Australia, the southpaw Nepomuceno received the Order of Lakandula with the special class of Champion for Life from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo early this year.
Previous to that, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit by the late President Ferdinand Marcos in 1984 and the Philippine Legion of Honor by former President Joseph Estrada in 1999. Congress also named Nepomuceno as the “Greatest Filipino Athlete of All Time.”
He is respected and much admired even by the athletes of other sports because of his big fighting heart, strong personal discipline, pleasant personality, clean, healthy lifestyle and good family values.
Paeng is the first bowler to be enshrined in the International Bowling Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1993 and his imposing seven-foot image is displayed at the museum’s entrance.
In November 1999, Paeng was awarded the International Olympic Committee President’s Trophy—the highest award for sports—by no less than former IOC chief Antonio Samaranch himself. The award is especially significant since bowling is still not included in the Olympic calendar.
Nepomuceno is also the recipient of many other international awards, including the World FIQ (the ruling body for bowling), who named him as the “Bowling Athlete of the Millennium” and Bowlers’ Journal International, who picked him as the “Greatest International Bowler of All Time.” Bowlers’ Journal International is the world’s most prestigious magazine of its kind. It was founded in 1913 by American entrepreneur Dave Luby.
The good-looking, 6-foot-2 Paeng keeps in shape by observing a rigid regimen: running, mountain biking on weekends, lifting weights and following a no-smoking policy in his various bowling centers and pro shops.
An ardent devotee of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and devoted family man, Paeng is married to Saira “Pinky” Puyat, daughter of former Assemblyman Jose “Popit” Puyat.
“I got hooked on the sport of bowling when I was 13 years old,” narrated Paeng. “My dad and a brother were on a golf course when a sudden downpour forced us to seek cover inside a bowling center. There, I played several games until the rains stopped. Right after, my love affair with bowling started.”
