JEDDAH, 17 November 2003 — The Panasonic Junior Tennis Circuit, being played at Sharbatly Village, headed toward boys finals, as the girls events started on Saturday evening. Jeddah Tennis Organization (JeTO) is organizing the Ramadan event.

In the Under-14 Intermediate Singles category, Marc Darouni advanced to the finals with a hard-earned 8-5 victory over No. 5 seed Ahmed Assem El Salaam. It was an exciting match as El Salaam wasted points in the early part of the match trailing 1-6. But he turned the heat and rattled Darouni when he rose up to the challenge and slowly chased Darouni’s lead 5-7. Darouni showed steel nerves when he held on and finally prevailed and upended El Salaam’s rally.

In another match, Perrier Open Under-12 champ Raymond Fenton saved 5 match points but fell short when No. 2 seed Raghav Ramabadran showed maturity with a scintillating display of composure under pressure and won 8-7(4). Fenton started sedately in the first few games but found his rhythm as the match progressed. He refused to bend under pressure as he saved crucial points. Ramabadran looked defiant by Fenton succeeded in forcing the tiebreak after saving two match points. But it was a complete reversal in the tiebreaker when Ramabadran kept the pressure on and finally edging Fenton 7-4 in the tiebreak.

In the Under-10 Beginner category, Loloah Chamoun was a revelation in the tournament when she upended Rafael Ordonez’s winning streak in the semifinals. Chamoun who earlier bested Krisnan Penafiel, continued her winning ways when she overpowered Ordonez 6-0. Meanwhile, Christian Penafiel, brother of Krisnan, advanced to the finals against Chamoun following his opponent Hussein El Hajj’s no-show.

In the Under-18 Advanced Singles, No. 1 seed Colin Dektar advanced to the semifinals against Mikko Calauag when he defeated Aumir Ahmed 8-3. Ahmed fought gallantly but never really threatened an in-form Dektar. Also in the advanced category, unseeded and newcomer Kelwin De Wet staged an upset for No. 2 seed Al Ijiran in a convincing manner. A visibly off-form Ijiran could not match De Wet’s attacking style and was humbled by the score of 8-0.

Tournament Director Jovie Llevares, meanwhile announced that the finals would be played on Thursday.

Meanwhile, an additional category was introduced to accommodate many entries from Under-16 girls. They had their draw last weekend, and matches started on Saturday, according to tournament referee Francis Idjao.

Sharbatly’s Compound Manager Mohammad Mazhar and Recreation Coordinator Gary Williams are hosting the event, which is sponsored by Alesayi Electronics/Panasonic. There are 16 girls competing in the Under-16 category. Saturday’s results: Uzma Ahmad and Loloah Chamoun moved into the next round due to no-show respectively from Diala Demashkel and Gina Mohanani.

Jaya Soundraya beat Andrea D’Mello 8-5, Anisha D’Cruz beat Christina Isshak 8-5, Sahiti Sreekanth beat Rita Isshak 8-5, and Dima Hassan beat Donna Toumeh 8-5, according to Tournament Referee Francis Idjao.

In the Intermediate Doubles category 16 pairs started vying for the title from yesterday.