JEDDAH, 16 July 2003 — The doubles semifinals of the Prince Talal ibn Mansour Tennis Cup at Albilad Hotel Tennis Courts turned out to be one-sided affairs with the Filipino pair Manny Valleramos and Jovie Lalevares and the Pakistani Ahmed brothers — Zulfikar and Waqar setting up a showdown in the final.
The pairs recorded easy victories with both the teams showing flair and finesse to outplay their opponents. The Filipino pair defeated Abdul Rahman Omar and Hatem Jawi, both Saudis, 6-3, 6-2, and the Pakistani pair had a cakewalk over the Jordanian pair Hani Al-Ali and Saleh Busnaq, 6-1, 6-1.
Today the singles semifinal matches will be contested. The first encounter is between Valleramos and Waqar at 7.30 p.m. and the other match is between top-seed Zulfikar Ahmed and Hani Al-Ali begins at 9 p.m. Going by form, Zulfikar and Manny are expected to be pitted against each other in the final slated for Friday. The doubles final will be held tomorrow (Thursday), according to Reggie Sanosa, tournament referee.
Abdul Rahman Omar, meanwhile, has awarded a special prize for being the top Saudi finisher in the tournament, organized by the Jeddah Tennis Organization (JeTO) with Attar Travel, Tudor Watches, British Airways, Cyprus Airways and Abuljadayel Beverages (Bison) as cosponsors.
