Semifinals set for LMX in Astec Team Tennis

Four teams moved to the semifinals of the LMX category as they defeated separate opponents in the 25th Astec Team Tennis Challenge.
SSS took the first slot after it defeated team JRTC-Daud in straight sets, while team JRTC-Noor nailed the second seat with a 2-2 win via points 26-22 against Friday Bulls.
ELAF scored a 2-1 victory against team NCB to secure their spot and taking the last ticket was RSTP after it defeated m Uricane 3-1.
In the HMX category, RSTP beat JRTC with a 2-2 win via points of 22-21 to arrange a finals showdown with FUCHS, a 2-1 winner over NCB.
Unbeaten team SSS continued its winning streak with a 3-0 drubbing of JRTC-Daud in their category LMX quarterfinals assignment. Majed and Moh’d Al-Ghamdi survived the tiebreak to win 8-7 against Faisal and Tanny in the first set. This was followed in the second set by SSS captain Saleh Azharani and Saeed Fadel who blanked Rads and Ali Isa.
Moving in for the kill, Yousef and Tareq outplayed Mohaimen and Webb Pango with an 8-3 third set win to advance to the semifinal round.
Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club’s other entry, JRTC-Noor, was luckier than their other team as it survived a fighting Friday Bulls team. Kin and Mohd Noor took the first set at 8-6 against Mahmoud and Ed Belen but suffered setbacks in the next two sets as Jimmy and Rash lost 3-8 to Aldwin and Marlon Delfin in the second then Hakim and Podin lost the third canto to Mark Salas and Noel De Guzman to trail 1-2 in the match. But JRTC was determined to win as Ronald and Acmad Sani dished out an 8-0 drubbing of Noel and Ali Sakay to tie the match at 2-2 and win via points 26-22.
In the other half of the quarterfinals, ELAF took one against National Commercial Bank (NCB) to book its spot in the final four. After a shaky start as Miller and Bernie Soguilon lost 3-8 to Mohannad and Sohail Hafez in the first set, ELAF never looked back taking the next two sets with an 8-6 win by Winston and Ramil Abdua in the second set against Jun Quinio and Marlon Regala followed by the 8-2 win by Arvi and Geraldo Catalan against Jess Labanda-Sam Silvestre in the third set to put ELAF ahead 2-1.
In the fourth set Mario Betorio and Marlon Pagsanjan scored the needed six points to secure the victory. On the other court, Red Sea Tennis Players (RSTP) banked on seasoned players to guarantee its place in the semifinals. Winning the first set, 8-5 by Alex Tam and Ron Valdez against Uricane’s Robert and Boy Eusebio, this was negated as RSTP pair of Mazen and Ahmad Lagman defaulted in the second set to hand the 8-0 win to Joe and Nilo for a tied 1-1 score. In the third set, RSTP secured the win with Joel Quimpo and Galvin Collantes winning 8-6 against Khaled and Waleed Batestil to gain the upperhand at 2-1. RSTP’s Cris Balles and Jonathan Contreras were awarded an 8-0 win when Uricane’s Roel and Nelson could not suit up and was declared as no-show defaults.
In the HMX semifinals, RSTP had a hairline win against JRTC with a 2-2 win on points of 22-21 to claim the first finals seat. RSTP controlled the first and second sets with wins by Domelo Gesto and Jovi Tagudin against Tungko and Alimbsar Umpa at 8-2 and Francis Idjao and Rey Diega over Benjie and Jimmy at 8-3. JRTC rallied to win the next two sets with Jun Ouano and Ely Mangca scoring an 8-4 win against Dilson Autentico and Carmelo Nery followed by Danny and Maarouf Pantaran closing out at 8-2 over Marcial Barro and Randy Martin to tie the match at 2-2.
Counting all the scores, RSTP led JRTC 22-21 and was declared the winner.
In the other match, FUCHS and NCB had two sets of tiebreak which they split. First set belonged to NCB as Michael and Pablo defeated Byun and Kim but FUCHS managed to take the second set with Arif and Sandy Dalit winning over Jun and Raymond. FUCHS continued in the third set as Mohsen and Jonathan scored an 8-4 win against Mj Melendrez and Aris Feliciano then Walid and Ricky Delgado scored the needed five points against Cocoy Clapano and Ricky Mediavillo to close out the set and match for FUCHS.