RIYADH, 28 February 2003 — The ongoing Pinoy Netters’ 1st Doubles Tennis Challenge at Al Yamama Hotel Tennis Courts here capped its 4th week of tennis matches with major upsets, with three leading pairs succumbing to their less favored opponents.
In Group 1, front-runner Tagaytay (Rey Esteban & Arnel Baylon) bowed to Apo shotmakers (Jun Idol and Bernard Ustani), 6-8. Unfortunately, Apo lost to Hundred Islands (Ricky Tamayosa & Sonny Sy), 5-8, in another encounter.
Luckily, Tagaytay maintained its lead in the group, accumulating 30 points overall going into the 5th week. Both leaders of Group 2, Burnham Park and Dapitan, were caught off-guard by the tandems of Vigan (Richard Villanueva & Gem Beringuel) and Villa Escudero (John Valencia & Odie Dalida) in nerve-wracking matches in Court 1, losing the match against Vigan, 6-8.
Earlier, Villa Escudero relied on heavy groundstrokes and net attacks to trounce the Dapitan’s duo of Vic Capulong & Leo Gervacio, 8-4. In Court 2, Chocolate Hills proved too strong for Makiling, winning the match with ease, 8-5.
In Court 6, Boracay (Bong Bueta & Rico Rana) took a hard-earned victory against Luneta (Darwin Suson & Ting Banday), 8-7, exacting revenge for their earlier defeat at the hands of Burnham Park. Luneta’s defeat followed another whitewash at the hands of Vigan which crushed the former with service and down-the-line winners, 8-0. Also topping the list in Group 1 were Chocolate Hills and Pinatubo (Rey Mantua & Albin Guinto), respectively, with 29 and 27 points. In 4th place was Makiling, followed by Apo, Taal, Hundred Islands, Banaue, Mayon and Corregidor. Still leading Group 2 was Burnham Park, with 30 points.
