RIYADH, 14 March 2003 — Two dark horses dumped tournament’s early favorites Chocolate Hills and Tagaytay out of the trophy standing in the run-up to the championships slated today, at Al Yamama Hotel Tennis Courts here.
Tournament giant-killers Taal (Lorie Adalim & Fred Octubre) and Pinatubo (Rey Mantua & Albin Guinto) in Group 1 overcame strong oppositions last week.
Pinatubo got past the hotly-favored Chocolate Hills, 8-5, with solid returns to ease it out of the runners-up spots. Chocolate settled for third spot in the group. Taal rocked Banaue (Ramil Ramos & Jigs Garcia) with precise volleying at the net and well-placed ground strokes winning the match 8-6 after almost an hour of court battle.
A match later, Taal stunned Mayon (Sarge Gumapac & Romy Calitis) with booming serves and crushing forehands in a nerve-wracking tiebreak tussle, 8-7, and finally cemented itself at the top position to square off for the championships with Burnham Park (Rey Lamban & Frank Villahermosa).
Pinatubo won an emphatic duel with Hundred Islands (Ricky Tamayosa & Sonny Sy), 8-5, showering the Islands with blistering returns and cross-court winners. Pinatubo’s gains put them in second spot, two games shy of overtaking Taal.
Both tandems tallied 7 points apiece, with Taal edging Pinatubo by a couple of games, 68 to 66.
In Group 2, Dapitan (Vic Capulong & Leo Gervacio) almost spoiled the final bid of Burnham Park when it fought point by point before losing the 11th and 12th games to tie the score, 6 games apiece.
Burnham Park relied on high percentage shots to clinch the next two games and propelled itself to meet Taal for the prestigious finals.
Dapitan dropped to No. 6 behind Mactan (3), Boracay (4) & Intramuros (5). Luckily, Dapitan scored a win over Luneta, 8-6 and capped its last remaining match with 4 points.
Meanwhile, waiting to meet Pinatubo for the 3rd & 4th spots was Villa Escudero (John Valencia & Odi Dalida) which finished the tournament with 7 points along with Group 2’s new leader Burnham Park.
Only three games separated Burnham Park and the Villa Escudero after nine matches.
The tournament sponsors are House of Donuts, Racquet Shop, General Electric, United Food Industries (Deema Products), Design Center, Hastek Marketing, Al Manhal Company Ltd.
(Nestle Water) and Voice & Data Telecommunications Company (Vodatel), seller of Alo products such as Internet and prepaid calling cards.
Proceeds from this competition will go to Bantay Bata 163.
