JEDDAH: At the end of the quarterfinals of the 7th ALBAIK Tennis Tournament 2015, teams are in high-gear trying to eliminate other teams in their quest for category championships.

ELAF Group and Issham International hurdled their opponents in category B2 to book semifinal seats against separate opponents. In the LMX category ASTEC-Deltaz won 3-1 against a fighting SOFTC team to enter the semifinals.

In category C, Zuhair Fayez narrowly escaped TWISTER to register a 2-2 (25-22) win by points to grab a spot in the semifinals.

In the MMX category, DP World went a notch higher after beating SOFTC 2-1 in the semis to become the waiting team in the championship match as the tournament winds down to its final week at the Trio Ranch Country Club courts on the outskirts of Jeddah.

ELAF Group pounded ASTEC-Sky Freight into submission during their category B2 quarterfinals match. Ricky Salazar and Ronald Mercado’s tiebreak 8-7 win over Bernie Soguilon and Ahmad Lagman in the 1st set was followed by Cats Catalan’s 8-3 mastery of the 2nd set singles against Raldy Sultan as ELAF took a commanding 2-0 lead. Lito Zamudio and Ed Umlas would not let up as they took the 3rd set at 8-2 from Gary Bautro and Jun Tomas for the match victory and ticket to the semifinals. The dead rubber between August Talavera-Rey Tablang and Junior Salazar-Robert Puno was abandoned. ELAF is to meet Saudia City Tennis Club in the semis.

In another category B2 quarterfinal match, URICANE-Issham International also went to three sets before disposing of Samahang Pinoy Tennis Club’s Rading. SPTC-Rading took the 1st set with Marlon Pagsanjan and Noi Moto defeating Uricane’s Tuffs Laguindab and Anuar Laguindab at 8-6. However, Uricane bounced back in the 2nd set singles as Nilo Borata pounded Mansour Khalid to an 8-1 submission to tie the match at 1-1. In the 3rd set Walid Batestil and Egay Go showed no mercy to Cesar Pabico and Romeo Porras to win 8-1 and put Uricane beyond reach at 2-2 (22-10). The fourth set schedule of Boy Castillo-Ronnie Organo versus Waymor Carmelottes-Romy Sorra was abandoned. Uricane-Issham International moves to the semifinals against Toyota.

Over at category C, Zuhair Fayez clinched its assignment against TWISTER but not without a scare. After taking the 1st set with Ryan Sultan and Tamir Saeed’s 8-3 win against Ameco Benito and Habib Abubakar, Ricky Salazar lost the 2nd set singles 4-8 to Exan Dimaronsing and then Nelson Sta. Clara and Abdullah Miswak lost the 3rd set 5-8 to Gilbert Santos and Abe Sarip to put the score at 2-1 in favor of TWISTER. It was only in the 4th set when Ryan Tiu and Eric Cuyco got hold of their nerves to score an 8-3 win against Ali Tantuas and Najier Dimagiba and clinch a narrow points win for Zuhair Fayez at 2-2 (25-22) . Waiting Zuhair in the semifinals is SBG-RPDTC-1.

In the category MMX semifinals, DP World was triumphant in its campaign against Saudi Oger and Friends Tennis Club. It was a nip-and-tuck affair as DP World took the 1st set with Lito Mosquera and Dennis Miralles winning 8-6 against Alex Duma and Beejee Bandilao to draw first blood. Then Melvin Rama and Roy Felix labored to tie-break in the 2nd set but eventually lost 7-8 to the flashy August Talavera and Sev Sumaya to put the match even at 1-1. In the 3rd set, DPWorld’s Rad Montero and Max Dela Rita poured everything on Marlon Delfin and Jel Vista to post a blowout 8-1 win. Fourth set action was stopped after DPWorld’s Ramon Monterde and Darrel Eltagonde scored 1-0 against Floren Ponce and Baraa Habil, making the scores unreachable by SOFTC and DPWorld being declared the winner. In the championship, DP World plays either JRTC-Jimmy or Zuhair Fayez.