Pepsi-SCTC, Uricane-Reem Riviera advance to Astec semifinals

Jeddah: O. Mamaril & C. Bautista

Two clubs dominated the lower category quarterfinal matches as Saudia City Tennis Club’s Pepsi-C, Pepsi-B2 and Pepsi-LMX defeated separate opponents to advance to the semifinals. Also advancing was Tropang Obhur Tennisters’ Uricane-Reem Riviera in Class C and Class LMX, as the tennis courts of Al-Bilad Hotel in Jeddah Corniche became a beehive of activity for the remaining teams vying for championships in the 23rd Astec Team Tennis Tournament 2012.
Saudia City Tennis Club had everything to celebrate as three of its entries have stayed in contention for the coveted championship in different categories.
SCTC-Pepsi C was taken to a full stretch before finally beating ALJ-Tropapips with a 2-2 win via points. Vic-Deddy Taryono scored an 8-4 win against Zaldy-Arnold Yabut to draw first blood in the first set. A sorry tiebreak loss by Mhouz Martinez-Froilan Lim, who were leading 7-4 against Arvin-Joe Dadios, gave ALJ-Tropapips a breather to tie at 1-1. Then came the resurgence of Tropapips with Arnold Perez-Mohammad Moustafah scoring a runaway 8-2 victory over Rad-Butch Hamid to put them in the lead at 2-1. It was a winner take-all in the fourth set which Pepsi’s Haroun Ratag-Jun Seguritan took advantage with their more steady play, awe-inspiring intensity and superb control of the net that shook the Tropapips pair of Jun-Odie Guise into an 8-2 submission.
SCTC-Pepsi B2, on the other hand, survived a scare from JBTP. The 1-2 punch pair of Abdo-Sol Bartolome and Ramil Abdua-Amin Paraji defeated Jun O-Faiz Amil and Glenn-Zaldy Ramos respectively by identical 8-5 scorelines and it looked everything was all moot and academic for the match win, but JBTP’s Andy-Lito Mosqueda was not about to give up.
Running to an early 6-2 lead with a 40-0 with Lito serving, SCTC’s Henry Siazon-Ronnie Santos converted to get the point at 3-6 and went on to tie at 6-6 and force a tie-break, much to the delight of the SCTC supporters. But the pair ran out of steam and lost the tiebreak. With the score at 2-1 for SCTC and enjoying a lead of four statistical points, pressure was then on JBTP’s Joel Chan-Joel Sacal to win with a lead of five points. But SCTC’s Ernie Capito with team captain Francis Balde made sure that the victory will be theirs as they at once surged to a 3-1 lead assuring a super tiebreak should they lose. After JBTP scored the next point that SCTC answered the former reached out to congratulate the winners in a gesture of sportsmanship. It was an altogether different story as SCTC’s Pepsi LMX team progressed to the semifinals via a walkover due to a no-show by their opponent Tatto Tatti.
Tropang Obhur Tennisters with their Reem Riviera sponsored Uricane teams in category C and LMX had to fight tooth and nail to get where they stand right now.
A victory over SPTC C with a 2-2 win via points sets them on a collision course with Shelter, which got past HTTP in the quarterfinals. Their LMX team who previously ousted team JRTC via a 2-1 (with double default) win will test the mettle of SCTC Pepsi for a spot in the finals. Other teams to qualify for the semifinals in Category C are Shelter, which will face Uricane, and Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club (JRTC), which will take on SCTC-Pepsi. In the B2 category, Smash Magic, fresh from its win against Shelter will meet Friday Bulls and t Pepsi-SCTC will try to go past defending champion 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.