 |
| (Image Source: Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons) |
There are have been thousands of world records that have been attempted to be broken by those who are interested in doing so. However, there are times that those who holds a world record may break its own which is a extraordinarily rare feat to accomplish. Fortunately, Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno is one of the rare few that has done so for the fourth time in his illustrious career as a legendary Filipino bowler. And it is no laughing matter because this feat was recently recognized by no less than the Guinness Book of World Records.
For the fourth time, Paeng broke his own record of having the most number of titles won in his entire career as a professional bowler since such record was established in 2007. In fact, Guinness has updated the number of local and international bowling titles won by Paeng from 118 to now 133. His most recent win was back in 2019 when Paeng clinched the Philippine Tenpin Bowling Association (TPBA) Mixed Open trophy at age 62 which would eventually make him the oldest Masters champion in the association's history. There is no reason to be doubtful or question Paeng's accomplishments that literally made a mark in the local sports scene when he started to learn and master bowling at age 12 and win his first major tournament at age 15.
In 1976, he was the youngest in the world to win the Bowling World Cup and has achieved a rare Grand Slam by winning the Philippine Cup, Asian Championship and his first Bowling World Cup in a span of five months. He went on to win the most Bowling World Cup titles in three different decades (1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996 Bowling World Cup; 1984 World's Invitational; and 1999 World Tenpin Masters) and the most worldwide titles in six different continents over five decades. Paeng was enshrined as the first male bowling athlete to be inducted in the World Bowling Hall of Fame in 1993 and in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
In 1999, Paeng was hailed by World FIQ, the world governing body for bowling, as the International Bowling Athlete of the Millennium in behalf of over a hundred bowlers across the globe during the opening ceremonies of the 1999 Bowling World Championships in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is the only athlete in the Philippines to be honored and recognized by five former Philippine presidents during their term and was given the highest award to a Filipino - the Order of Lakandula with the Class of Champion For Life conferred on him in 2008 by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He is also a five-time Athlete Of The Year awardee, named Athlete of the Century by the end of 1999 and Athlete of the Millennium in 2000 by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA), and the first athlete to be inducted into the PSA Hall Of Fame in 1993.
Accomplishments aside, Paeng is still able to enjoy competing in bowling against even those who are half his age and remains humble in training anyone who aspires to become a successful professional bowler. Besides, he is the first and only one in Asia to earn a United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Gold Coach certification. He is also a trustee of the Philippine Bowling Association, senior lecturer/professor at the University of the Philippines, and advisor to the national men's and women's bowling team. His all-time feat will never be forgotten by bowling fans and enthusiasts around the world throughout the course of time. Oh, and let's not forget him being at the entrance of the International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum in Arlington, Texas in the USA. This is what is considered as one's trubitastic impact in the Philippine sports scene that can't be matched or touched in the indefinite future.
