By Cesar Q. Quilenderino

JEDDAH — Team C bucked the odds by toppling Team D in an extension game, 8-7, after a regulation 5-set match-up of their semifinal cross-over encounter that went deadlock at 39-all last Friday at the King Abdulaziz University sports compound.

The deadlock forced the organizers to break it by a 6th set match with a call for the opposing teams to field their best doubles in their rubber match, which was then played the following day. In the other cross-over semifinal match, Team A went haywire against Team B and breezed through to a 36-23 victory to nail down the other finals slot.

Team C’s Marlon Pagsanjan went down in the first set match against Team D’s Norwin Catipay after trailing all the way from 1-5 to 2-7, till the leftie Norwin Catipay finished the set at 8-2. Team C’s Celso Abella and Jun Tomas went up in hot streak through 2-0, 6-2, 7-2 over Team D’s Boy Isuga and Bernie Soguilon before closing out the second set at 8-4. Then, another see-saw struggles ensued in the next two matches, balancing the third and fourth doubles with Team D’s Vic Rebong-Clark Maldo winning 8-3 games against Team C’s Ariel Domingo and Nilo Gamba, after posting 3-0, 5-1, 6-2 leads to put back their team ahead at 2 sets to 1. But, Team C’s fourth set doubles, Ruben Alzate and Zaldy Gabriel bounced straight back, snapping the fourth set with an 8-5 win against Team D’s Mario Betorio and Romy Sora to level their team at two sets all.

Yet, Team C lagged behind at this juncture at 21 total game points against 25 for Team D. From that point on, an unlikely pair of heroes for Team C, Ali Callanta and Hajji Pilongo, carved out a series of 3-1, 5-2, 6-3, comfortable leads to defeat Team D’s Rolly Bautista and JmBravo at 8-4 — freezing an overall team scores of 39-all. An ensuing sixth set rubber match saw a close battle that went beyond the regular 14 games with Team C’s Marlon Pagsanjan and Celso Abella barely escaping defeat at the hands of Team D’s Norwin Catipay and Boy Isuga, who stoke them closely from 1-2, 2-3, till 6-7 and up to 7-7. The tiebreaker finally ended 8-6 with victory for Team C’s Marlon Pagsanjan and Celso Abella that gave them the first slot for the championship match.

Meanwhile, at the other court’s semifinal match, Team A did barely enough to dispose of the challenge of depleted Team C with a total points difference of 36-23. Team A’s Fred Masangkay took down the challenge of Team B’s Waymor Carmelotes in the first set with 8-4 win after sustaining leads of 2-1, 5-2, 6-3 and 7-4. In the second set, Leo Maranion and GaryB followed up with an 8-5 victory for Team C, after losing a 3-1 lead and falling behind at 3-4, then regaining the lead at 5-4 and 6-5 before closing out their match against Rollie Saldana and CesarQ of Team B. Roy Timtiman and Rauf Butt of Team C joined the winners’ circle with 2-0, 5-2, 7-4 leads before terminating the third set with 8-5 drubbing of Team B’s Julius Garcia and Romeo Dilla.

The fourth set saw Benhashim Salabin and Fernan Fermin bring the first ever victory during the day for Team B and denied Madz Ali and Mashur Jamiri of a complete sweep by Team C by isolating the Team C’s pair and handed the an 8-4 defeat. Having three sets already won against one for Team B, the fifth and final set went uncontested and stopped in favor of Team C’s Sherwin Narvaiz and Jack Principe after scoring the minimum 3 points requirement to meet the absolute victory for Team C in accordance with the tournament rules against Team B’s Nasser Queyquep and CesarQ, who played as substitute for the ailing Pol Fernandez.

The organizers of this tennis competition are: Ariel Domingo (chairman), Roy Timtiman (vice chairman for internal affairs), Mario Betorio (vice chairman for external affairs), Jun Tomas (vice chairman for membership development), Leo Milarion (secretary), JM Bravo (treasurer), Fernan Fermin (auditor), Mashur Jamiri (press relation director), Mark Banaag (business manager), Waymour Carmelotes (tournament director). The following are serving as technical committee arbiters during SPTC tournaments and games: Roman Alcantara (deputy director), Nasser Cayquep (deputy director) and Zaldy Gabriel, Yusuf Adriatico, Allan Mabini, Rolly Saldana, Nilo Gamba, and Vic Rebong (committee members).