Uricane-Reem Riviera, SCTC-Pepsi crowned Astec champions

Jeddah: Orly Mamaril & Chet Bautista

Uricane-Reem Riviera bagged the category C championship in its initial foray into Astec tournaments after it defeated a fighting JRTC team via a 2-1 win on points while SCTC-Pepsi swept Friday Bulls en route to the B2 category tile in the 23rd Astec Team tennis Tournament 2012 at Hotel Al-Bilad courts in Jeddah Corniche
JBTP-1 survived a scare to get past RSTP-2 in the MMX category and book a finals showdown with RSTP-1, which defeated JRTC.
With two championships decided, three more are at stake before the completion of the tournament.
Uricane-Reem Riviera started out strong after its first set of Dante Gabrillo-Joe Espiritu drew first blood with an 8-5 win over JRTC’s Anuar Laguindab-Habib Dimakuta.
JRTC’s Ken Mapandi-Noroden pounded Ronnie Organo-Ebenecer Capalad into submission 8-3 to tie the score at 1-1.
Determined to win, Uricane’s Gerardo Catalan-Ricky Salazar took control of the third set over a fighting Rash Mapunod-Webb Pango 8-4 to put Uricane in the lead at 2-1.
Sensing victory Jonathan Cerezo-Eusebio Castillo coasted to 7-2 to steer clear of their opponents Alex Modi-Farouk Salacop. Adding up the all important scores Uricane-Reem Riviera was declared champion much to the delight of its team manager Muhammad Jaman Al-Shamani.
In the B2 category, Saudia City Tennis Club’s Pepsi-Jess Batingal team had an easier route to the championship victory.
SCTC’s Sol Bartolome and Abdo Poole combined sizzling forehands and well placed volleys to score an 8-1 win over Friday Bulls’ Rommel Divinagracia-Cliff Castaneda in the first set.
A setback in the second set came when Amin Paraji- Ramil Abdua lost 3-8 to Gilbert Bruno-Nilo Borata to tie the match at 1-1.
But SCTC’s Ronnie Santos and Henry Siazon would not be denied their night as they made opponents Edward Tugade-Lito Castor run and hustle for the ball with well timed lobs and smash hits to finish the set at 8-1 and put SCTC-Pepsi beyond reach. Their big winning margins in the first and third sets enabled them to grab the championship even without playing the fourth and final set.
The mixed class championships are still to be played. In the LMX category it will be SCTC-Pepsi against RSTP. The MMX category will pit JBTP-Lacoste against RSTP-1 and the HMX category will feature the matchup between JRTC and RSTP.
This tournament is organized by the Association of Tennis Clubs Jeddah (Astec) with the support of Tony Kassis and Amin Malik of DELTAZ Marketing, and Prince as the official tennis balls of the event.