Chet Bautista JEDDAH — JIS-Alfredo's and Red Sea Tennis Players (RSTP) teams scored wins in contrasting fashion to set up a head-to-head meeting for the Category B1 crown of the 4th Al Baik Team Tennis Challenge 2012 at the Al-Bilad Hotel tennis courts here. In the Lower Mixed (LMX) category quarterfinals, meanwhile, first ranked National Commercial Bank (NCB) defeated eighth-ranked Flexpack 3-0 to secure its semifinals slot. Needing only two points to secure a win in the fourth set JIS-Alfredo's scored when it needed them most to score a win via points against a never-say-die team UCB in Category B1 semifinals. UCB's Froi Malapad and Alex Pena looked determined to win the set when they raced to a 5-0 lead, but Lito De Mesa and Albert Bayot scored the two points needed to end the hostilities at 6-2 and seal their victory. First set was won by UCB as Loy Escabusa-Fred Masangkay tripped Rodan-Sanny Valencia 8-5. UCB then defaulted in the second set to award an 8-0 win to the father and son tandem of Rey and Renz Lacsina for a 1-1 scorecard. The crucial third set was won by Alfredo's as Tim San Gabriel with Rodil Mativo edged UCB's Rene and Pablo 8-6. With the win, Alfredo's will now face the other semifinals' winner RSTP for the Category B1 crown. Red Sea Tennis Players (RSTP) team took a shorter route to secure the finals spot as it blanked DP World and claimed the right to meet JIS-Alfredo's for the championship. First set was won via an 8-7 tie-break by Carmelo Nery-Benny Lazarte over Gil Tingabngab-Cromwel Marzo. Then a no-show default by DP World made matters worse for it when an 8-0 win was awarded to RSTP's Jojo Aran and Ruben Macalindong. Completing the 3-0 sweep was an 8-4 win by Tonton Pana and Tony Mirasol against Rad Montero-Jotham Matin-ao. In the LMX Category, meanwhile, NCB also had a 3-0 clean sweep over Flexpack. Starting with an 8-4 win of by Romvon-Rey Polintan against Pete-Jojo Lontac, NCB followed it with an 8-4 result by Roger Dolores and Marlon Regala against Jojo A-Roy P. Sensing victory, Mohammed Hamawy with team mwanager Sohail Hafez pounded the Mackoy and Ruben D for an 8-0 win. The victory moved NCB into the semifinals, where it will face RSTP. Other results in the LMX quarterfinals are as follows: AFS-Mahmoud defeats Hidada-Hitec 3-1; ABTC beats J&B 3-0; and RSTP beats DP World via points 2(19)-2(18). The cross-over match-up will pit NCB against RSTP and ABTC against AFS-Mahmoud. Organized and managed by the Association of Tennis Clubs, Jeddah (ASTEC), this team tennis tournament is held in partnership with Al Baik Food Systems Co. as the major sponsor under the aegis of its PR Manager Bassam Al-Seyofi and Marketing Coordinator Mahmoud Al-Jaber. Also supporting the event are: Deltaz Marketing (Racquet Shop) thru Maher Tebakhi and Amin Malik and Al-Raddadi Clinic thru Ahmad Abdulrahman, Dr. Jethro Fajardo (MD Surgeon) and Tony Bustamante.
