Riyadh – Three formidable tennis teams scored emphatic victories last August 8 to capture the lead after the second round of the 2nd Pinoy Mabuhay Cup at Al Yamama Hotel Tennis Courts here.
In Court 5 & 6, early frontrunner D’ Stallions proved too strong for Serve & Volley and won 41 games to 39 after losing three matches before its higher ranked players subdued their opponents in convincing fashion.
The trio of D’ Stallions, Telemoney and Spin Doctors edged out their equally strong opponents with guts and experience, coming home winners after tense and hard-fought matches.D’ Stallions went off to a poor start by losing the first three matches of its lower ranked tennisters. Fortunately, midway into the matches, it was all the D’ Stallions turn as its B5/B6 (Abet Bagay & Gener Marasigan) players fought point by point to secure the crucial win to gain momentum, 8-3, from the Serve & Volley tandem of Ruben Galema and Ato Bautista. From here, the victories were all for the D’ Stallions as the remaining B players played superbly to overtake the Serve & Volley at the finish line, 41 games to 39.
In Court 3 & 4, like D’ Stallions, Spin Doctors also managed to split all the 6 matches, edging out SEC Power Netters at the tape, also with an identical score, 41 to 39.
SEC Power Netters and Spin Doctors equally divided the first four matches, with the former slightly ahead with 2 games going into the next two matches. With the win of Spin’s Rene Sumido and Gerry Villaraiz (B3 & B4) over SEC’s Sergio Arato and Chito Abreau, the overall winner of the night’s matches was still uncertain as they edged out SEC only by 1 game going into the last match. The match of their B1/B2 players, Fidel Ulan/Danny Delfin & Danny Villanueva/Clark Minoza proved nerved-wracking as the two pairs exchanged hard rallies to exact defeat on each other. In the end, it was just sheer luck that separated the two tandems, with the Spin claiming the match in a tiebreak, 8-7.
In Court 1 & 2, Telemoney tennisters scored overwhelmingly against their foes with consistency and variety of shots, capturing 4 matches to 2. Telemoney’s lower ranked players saved the night for the team limiting their rivals to 14 games.
Telemoney’s Bebot Bancula and Rolly Barrozo (B1/B2) bulldozed the tandem of Romy Onas and Choi Calupcupan, 8-1, after their colleagues, Roger Samain & Roberto Itum (B3/B4) and Kamar Pancho & Jed Allonto (B5/B6) surrendered to Masco’s tandems of Nestor Etor & Rey Lamban and Dennis De Castro & Rey Esteban, respectively. In all, Telemoney got 36 points as against Masco’s 31.
With the victories, D’ Stallions cemented its place on top with 10 points going into the 3rd round. The Spin tennisters also moved up with 7 points, with Masco not far behind with 6.
In today’s (Friday, August 13) matches, D’ Stallions will be seen again in action against FC Netters in Court 1, 2 & 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment