Teener Umali surprises veterans in Open bowling

Junior national bowler Kenzo Umali surprised the more seasoned local campaigners in the PBF Pagcor Philippine International Open by rolling a pair of 718s to take second in the qualifying phase at Coronado Lanes in Starmall on Tuesday.

“Whenever I play, my goal is to always exceed my previous best,” said Umali, a 17-year-old who is also the No. 1 qualifier in the youth division and ranked second behind Jomar Jumapao in the men’s Open class.

Jumapao, finalist in the World Cup last year in Mexico, used a rare 819 series on Sunday to top qualifying with a 1520 total.

Veterans JP Macatula (1476), Paulo Valdez (1467) and defending men’s champion Kenneth Chua (1436) round out the top five in the Open class.