JEDDAH, 12 April — APO, in title-drought and longing for champions reinstatement, brought to the fore once more its vaunted firepower and battery of racket chargers to down Team B1B of Malaysia Airlines in their title showdown held at the Albilad tennis courts and took the crown that eluded them the past couple of years. The once formidable team had been long absent in an ASTEC championship match because of player transfer and repatriation, but this time it is a pair of unlikely heroes coming from their back-ups that did them the rare break of regaining the title they once reigned supreme.
Rommel Cortez, a backup player in the APO team, together with Neph Rosco, the soft-spoken team captain, gained confidence in the fifth service game then blew the airliner doubles off the court in the deciding fifth set — and did not only re-installed APO to their new title but also blocked and frustrated Team B1B of Malaysia Airlines from landing on what could have been the airliners’ first-ever championship crown in the major local tennis league.
The APO duo went up against the airliner doubles of Benny Deleon/Teddy Austria, the known Fifth Doubles specialists in the airliners team, and surprised their counterpart by bolting out from a 2-set standoff then broke away to grip the lead of 5-2, 6-3, 7-4 until the final score of 8-5 that gave themselves good measure for the moniker Fifth Doubles redeemer — who finally brought APO a crown which they long missed.
Team B1B of Malaysia Airlines threaded troubled waters in the first two sets before they could manage to steer back into contention in the middle third set. They went down in the first double as Ronnie Reyes and Ed Manabat crashed from the blistering forehand guns of APO’s Sonny Manangkil and Adi Banuelos, who both utilized their skills up to the hilt to come out smoking with a 6-2 and 7-3 lead before finally blowing it to 8-3 for APO. Another APO’s force in the second doubles, Paul Demetrio and Bien Villeta, blended their roles as net zone attacker and baseline retriever respectively and stirred the atmosphere miserable for the airliners’ captain Rhodel Rina and partner Venus Layoso by counting them out at 8-3 after the 3-3 elevation.
Rescue came for the Malaysia Airlines team in the more anticipated Category B tussle as Nemie Melencio, half of the Best Double in B1B, doubled up with Boy Urquia this time in place of his usual partner and the other half of the Best Double, Rudy Palustre, to nip the buzzing APO double of Rexie Hermano and Roden Luangco. Rexie and Roden took off straight to 3-0, and even soared to 4-1 lead, but Rexie’s topspin shots from there failed to scale over the devastating crisp volleys of Nemie and never regained the lead until the set was over at 6-8 for Malaysia Airlines. Speedy George Garguena stepped up in the 4th set with partner Alex Pena stonewalling behind the net, and the two airliners created havoc on the APO’s double of Gil and Arnold Tavera swerving them behind with a quick 7-2 to soar Malaysia head-to-head against APO in that fifth deciding set.
Meanwhile, the much-awaited match between Manny Valleramos and Robert Saavedra took place finally after its rain-spoiled play-date during the opening day of the Malaysia Airlines Team Tennis Challenge had been re-scheduled. The two known stalwarts in the game, now turned tennis mentors, brought their respective tennis careers into a new dimension by openly accepted the invitation of the organizers as well as the re-scheduling of the match in a gesture of support to ASTEC’s endeavor for wholesome and exciting sports activity in the expatriates tennis community. Their game was watched from start to end by Morad Omar, the Area Manager, including the executive staff of Malaysia Airlines — the main sponsor of the event.
Valleramos, a Filipino Davis Cupper who is now much sought-after tennis instructor in the Kingdom, turned in once more the agility and tenacity that made him reign undefeated in Philippine tennis during the early nineties. Robert Saavedra, an upcoming expat tennis star in Jeddah and who made splash after his Category B championship titles in two successive Perrier Open tournaments in the last part of 1990, once again held the crowd in awe with his power game.
The two ended their match in a standstill 1-set all at the applause of the spectators. Saavedra turned the heat on early in the first set, lurking in the net zone too often trying to block the scorching baseline shots of Valleramos, but found himself stranded most of the time away from oncoming passing shots. Valleramos won the first set at 6-4. Saavedra found his range on volleys and drop shots that staved off the blistering forehand shots of Valleramos in the second set which made the latter losing rhythm and steam. It was Valleramos’ turn of falling prey to the pounding passing shots of Saavedra in the second set, which went to Saavedra’s way at 6-3. After the match, the two players signified their willingness to participate in future ASTEC tournaments to do their share of not only promoting the sports of tennis but camaraderie and sportsmanship as well.
ASTEC (Association of Tennis Clubs in Jeddah) organized and managed the tournament, which has been principally sponsored by Malaysia Airlines with co-sponsoring support of the following: ALJ-Toyota, SDD First Net, Harry Ramsden’s Restaurant, AlZouman Trading & Swatch Co.
