Red Sea Tennis Players (RSTP) had much to celebrate as two of its teams posted their second wins in the 5th ALBAIK Tennis Tournament 2013.

In category C, RSTP-MTTS played a well-rounded game to defeat Hidada-2 via in straight sets 4-0 while RSTP-Tennis Pro won over Murcia Tennis Club-Alzate at 3-1 in the MMX encounter. Samahang Pinoy Tennis Club (SPTC), on the other hand, scored a similar 3-1 victory against Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club-Axie in another category C tie.

RSTP-MTTS (Modern Times Technology System) had too much strength to show in their Hidada-2 match, starting off with Joel Quimpo and Ahmad Lagman winning 8-2 over Dexter Lacson and Erwin Asi in the first set. In the second set, Joel Vista and Cris Balles carded an 8-3 win against Allan Asis and Harlie Conchas. In the third set, Allan Epan-Mark Lidres had some opposition from Ramon Manalac and Ahl Umpa but managed to save the set with an 8-5 victory. Then Quirino and Alex Tam coasted to an 8-3 win over Sherwin and Ramon Taneo in the fourth set to complete the 4-0 sweep.

In the MMX category, sister team RSTP-Tennis Pro grabbed an early opportunity to lead 2-0 as it controlled the first set with Zaid and Domelo Gesto scoring an 8-4 win over Padel and Ruben Alzate followed by the 8-6 second set win of Bonnie Zafra and Dondon Alcantara against Alex Pena and Efren Bulatao. RSTP then tried to close the match in the third set but the pair of Yul and Tonton Pana lost 5-8 against Murcia’s Fred Masangkay and Ben Briola that stymied RSTP momentum. It was then that RSTP team captain Randy Martin with Agot Delas Alas carried the brunt to close the fourth set at 8-3 against Loi Escabusa and Cris Temblique and seal the victory at 3-1.

In another category C encounter, SPTC started out poorly as its pair of Danny Baylosis and Haji Pilongo suffered a 1-8 defeat in the hands of Axie Lomomton and Ali Lagrado to trail JRTC-Axie 0-1. But team captain Ben Micu with Waymor Carmelotes evened matters up, 1-1, in the second set with a convincing 8-2 win over Alvin Lomodaya and Mengkol Dialan. In the third set, SPTC’s Roy Timtiman and Darwin Pizarro had to level up their game to survive the onslaught of Karim Garo and Alikman Dalidi in a hard fought 8-6 win that gave SPTC a 2-2 (17-16) lead. Entering the fourth set which could mean victory or defeat as a loss of 6-8 for SPTC would give victory to JRTC, pressure was evident on both sides. In the end it was SPTC’s Mario Betorio and Ellie Baltar who won 8-3 against Tats and Camad Dimatingal to finalize the victory at 3-1.

Organized by Association of Tennis Clubs in Jeddah (Astec) under the helm of Chairman Francis Idjao Jr. and Tournament Director Tonton Pana, this 26th Astec team tennis tournament is presented in partnership with ALBAIK Food Systems Co. Ltd. represented by Bassam Al-Seyofi (PR-manager), Mahmoud Al-Jaber (marketing coordinator) and Ed Cabiedes (branch manager), and is supported by Deltaz Marketing (Racquet Shop) courtesy of Tony Kassis, Maher Tebakhi and Amin Malik. Also providing support is Sky Freight Forwarders, TFC The Filipino Channel and Pepsi Bugshan.