SCTC and ABTC-Taif will dispute the Ladies Division HMX category finals after a grueling double round-robin while in the Men’s Division LMX category, four teams advanced to the semifinals after winning their respective quarterfinal matches against separate opponents.

Saudia Catering, the Group 2 top seed after the elimination round, demolished fourth seeded team Uricane 2-1 while third seed JRTC vanquished second seed Sandstorm via a 3-0 sweep. In Group 1, first seed SOFTC-AWW defeated fourth seed SCTC 2-1 and third seed Saudi Diyar eliminated No. 2 Dark Horse 3-0 as the 6th ALBAIK Tennis Challenge 2014 winds down to the most exciting final stages en route to crowning this year’s champions.

With three teams tied on identical 2-2 win-loss card in the Ladies Division HMX category, it went down to the technicalities of points gained and counting the sets won to break the triple-tie which placed Saudia City Tennis Club at No. 1 and ABTC-Taif at No. 2 thus setting up their championship showdown.

Saudia Catering with an impeccable 5-0 elimination round record continued its onslaught in the quarterfinals by beating Reem Riviera-Uricane. Noor and Axie controlled the first set winning over Roger and Robert at 8-3. In the second set, Uricane’s Roel and Mel outsteadied Farouk and Dr. Mounir 8-2 to level the match at 1-1. Third set was again taken by the Caterers as Mike and Michael took an 8-4 win against Ronnie and Edison for a 2-1 lead and a three point buffer. Banking on their fourth set tandem of Alex and Ryan, the Saudia Catering duo did not fail the team as they methodically outsteadied Reygil and Ver to score 6-1 and be unreachable for the opposition. The match was then awarded to the Caterers paving the way for their semifinals appearance.

Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club (JRTC) had a much easier match beating Sandstorm in straight sets. First set had Jimmy and Sohaimi conquering Roden and Tonjie at 8-1 score followed by Noroden and Nash winning over Sammy and Tani at 8-6 in the second set. Closing the match at third set was Tuffs and Amer’s 8-2 slaying of Nilo and Abe to award the match to JRTC and their place in the semifinals. Completing the semifinal cast in the LMX category are SOFTC-AWW and Saudi Diyar which also won their round-of-eight assignments.

In category C, teams that reached the semifinals were Ako’y Tennis Player (ATP-Mon) beating SCTC 2-1, SBG-RPDTC-1 winning over SOFTC-AWW 3-1, MRTC defeating Twister 3-0 and SBG-RPDTC-2, a 2-1 winner over Sandstorm 2-1.

For category B2, the semifinalists are Black Tigers, ABTC, SOFTC-AWW and Azizeyah. For the B1 category the four teams to progress for the next round are SOFTC-AWW, JRTC, RSTP and ASTEC while for the MMX category the qualified teams are Sandstorm, SOFTC-AWW, JRTC-Makita and Azizeyah.

Organized by Association of Tennis Clubs in Jeddah (ASTEC) under the helm of its chairman Francis Idjao Jr. and Tournament Director Tonton Pana, this 27th ASTEC team tennis tournament being played at the Trio Ranch Country Club tennis courts is presented in partnership with ALBAIK Food Systems Co. Ltd. represented by Bassam Al-Seyofi (PR-Manager) and Ed Cabiedes (Branch Manager) and is supported by Deltaz Marketing (Racquet Shop), Sky Freight Forwarders and Almarai Drinks.