Rivera stays in W. Cup title hunt
ASIAN GAMES-BOUND Biboy Rivera assured himself of at least the bronze medal after placing third Friday in the semifinals of the Qubica AMF Bowling World Cup at the Tour Royale Castle Cote D’Azur in Toulon, France.
The 36-year-old former World Masters champ, posted a 32-game total of 7038 pinfalls to sneak into the three-man finals of the event behind Englishman Matt Miller (7173) and Canadian Michael Schimdt (7074).
Schmidt, last year’s World Cup runner-up, and Rivera meet in a best-of-three knockout match Saturday (Sunday in Manila), with the winner challenging Miller for the crown.
“I’m going to give it my best shot,” Rivera said after the eight-game round-robin match play. “It’s my dream to win the World Cup.”
Another Filipino, Marianne Daisy Posadas, also barged into the women’s semifinals but ended up fifth with a 6651 effort.
Korea’s Gye Min-young (6970), Fiona Bank of England (6715) and Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic (6780) made the finals.
Philippine Bowling Congress secretary general and former World Cup champ Bong Coo said she likes Rivera’s chances.
If Rivera defeats Schmidt, he will take on the top-ranked Miller who, like the Filipino, is also on his first World Cup finals.
“The finals is two of three (games), so we have a bigger chance instead of the one-game finals,” said Coo.
Rivera is looking to become the third Filipino to win the prestigious event after Paeng Nepomuceno, who bagged a record four crowns in 1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996, and Christian Jan Suarez, who triumphed in 2003.
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