The MMX category semifinal round is shaping up as two teams defeated separate opponents during the quarterfinal segment of the 4th ALBAIK Team Tennis Challenge at the Al-Bilad Hotel courts.
Group 1 leader RSTP routed erstwhile rival Hidada-HiTec with a 3-0 sweep while Group 2 top placer Sarimanok had to toil for four sets before finally beating Zuhair Fayez Partnership 3-1.
In other eliminations round matches, Tropapips narrowly edged Team Toyota Express to qualify for the quarterfinals in category C.
RSTP needed only three sets to qualify into the next round as it blanked Hidada-Hitec in their quarterfinals outing. RSTP’s Tonton Pana-Ronnie Santos won the first set at 8-4 against Ruben Macalindong-Jojo Lontac to start the blitzkrieg. Then Tony Mirasol-August Talavera followed with an 8-6 win over Tony Cleofas-Ely Ramos in the second set. It was the explosive performance of Carmelo Nery-Ron Valdez that sealed the victory for RSTP as they handed an 8-3 beating to Wajdi-Jhun Ordonez in the third set to take the team to the semifinals round.
Sarimanok, fresh from a recent victory that catapulted them to the top of their group going into the qusrterfinals, hurdled another assignment when it won over the Zuhair Fayez Partnership 3-1.
Sarimanok started out strong with an 8-1 win by Lantong Patara-Sammy Macapaar against Dante-Cats Catalan in the first set which Zuhair’s Rey Tablang-Obet Tumale counered with an 8-3 second set win over Nash Mangotara-Faiz Bilao Amil to level the score at 1-1.
A closely fought third set was taken by Sarimanok’s Al Manarandong-Alamansa Macapaar at 8-6 over Leo Perez-Dennis Cruz gave the lead to Sarimanok at 2-1. Another tightly contested game of 8-6 was won by Alimbsar Umpa-Nor Hadji Halil against Dario Palon-Waleed Batestil gave the match to Sarimanok at 3-1 to qualify for the semifinals.
Embattled Tropapips, working hard to get every point they could against Toyota Express, seemed doomed at the final set. Tropapips lost the first set with Joe Aquino-Joe Dadios scoring 5-8 to the Express Roger Dapitan-Delfin Reyes. Tropapips then took control of the second set as Arnold Perez-Mohamad Mostafa won on tiebreak 8-7 against Ronald Cadiz-Gerry Valle.
Another tiebreak on the third set was this time in favor of the Express as Hashim-Russell Inabangan took it at 8-7 over a game Arvin Mendoza-Nol Tumolva. With the odds against Tropapips at 1-2 and trailing on points 20-23, all seemed lost. Then a lucky break turned the tables when the Express Agot Cuevas and Jovani Benting could not suit up and were declared default handing the 8-0 win in the fourth set to Tropapips’ Chris Nullan-Rene Reyes. With the win, it was a tied match at 2-2 but the points favored Tropapips at 28-22 and thus they were declared winners.
Organized by the Association of Tennis Clubs Jeddah (ASTEC), this team tennis tournament is in partnership with Albaik Food Systems Co. as the major sponsor under the aegis of its PR Manager Bassam Al Seyofi with Marketing Coordinator Mahmoud Al Jaber. Supporting the event is Deltaz Marketing (Racquet Shop) through Maher Tebakhi and Amin Malik and Al Raddadi Clinic through Ahmad Abdulrahman, Dr. Jethro Fajardo and Tony Bustamante.
RSTP, Sarimanok book spots in ALBAIK Tennis semifinals
