DAVAO CITY — Bowling great Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno believes that the Philippine Bowling Federation (PBF) is on the right track in its bid to bring the sport back to its glory days.

During his guesting at the Davao Sportswriters Association Forum on Thursday, the 69-year-old bowling legend gave the federation a high mark in terms of developing the next breed of stars.

He added that these younger players can bring back the glory days of bowling while the trained and licensed coaches in each region can discover new talents who can bring pride and glory to the country both in the national and international competitions.

“We have numerous young players in the national pool that are quite promising. We also have programs for coaches in different regional clubs under the Philippine Bowling Federation (PBF),” the four-time World Cup champion said of the federation that produced some of the country’s brightest stars like Philippine Sports commissioner Olivia “Bong” Coo, Arianne Cerdeña, Biboy Rivera, CJ Suarez and Krizziah Tabora.

Nepomuceno is in town to see action in the 18th Davao Ten-pin Bowling Association (DATBA) Kadayawan 2026 at the SM Bowling Center in SM Lanang Premier

“It is still fun to compete with today’s players who are much younger than me. However, I still enjoy a good challenge,” said Nepomuceno, who will participate in the open category of the prestigious annual event that is part of the city’s celebration of the Kadayawan Festival.

On the other hand, Rameses Tancontian, president of the organizing DATBA Kadayawan 2026, said around 100 players are seeing action in the tournament that will wrap up on Sunday.

“So far, this is the biggest tournament for ten-pin here in the region. Bigger cash prizes will be at stake for the winners,” Tancontian said.