Saudi- SPTC HeatWave Challenge tournament under way

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: Undaunted by the punishing heat of the morning sun members of the Samahang Pinoy Tennis Club got together last Friday to start their tennis tournament at the Sports Complex of King Abdulaziz University in Jamea-Sulamaniyah District here.
Thirty-six SPTC tennis players responded to the challenge posed by the name of their tournament 'The HeatWave Challenge' grouping themselves into four teams of nine players each . The four teams play round-robin matches to determine their rankings then t a semi-final play-off phase follows in a cross-over match-up that pits the ranked No. 1 team against the No. 3 and the ranked No. 2 team against No. 4. The winners of the cross-over match-ups will take the final two slots for the right to square off in the championship. At stake are trophies for the champion team and the finalist as well. Medals are to be awarded to the other 2 surviving teams in the tournament that ends Oct. 2.
Team match-ups compose of three (3) doubles and one match for the singles. Last Friday's opening team competition pitting Team Green versus Team Orange saw a battle of nerves and endurance in the 1st set as the tandem of Vic Rebong / Nilo Gamba of Team Orange beat the pair of Mashur Jamiri and Clark Maldo 8-7 that was stretched by a tightly fought tiebreaker at 7-4 that put Team Orange ahead. Team Green's Mashur Jamiri and Clark Maldo breezed through early on with 3-0 games lead but Vic Rebong / Nilo Gamba clawed back to claim games 4 5 and 6 and leveled the match at 3-3. Mashur Jamiri and Clark Maldo grabbed the next 4 of 5 games and took back the advantage at 7-5 but Team Orange's Vic Rebong / Nilo Gamba held on with their gritty plays outlasted their tiring opponents and never looked back to stay in control the rest of the game.
Playing cool and easy despite the drenching sweat on their faces Team Green's Romy Sora and Norwin Catipay fought back and doused cold water with a lopsided 8-1 win in the 2nd set over the unsettled games of Team Orange's Bhoy Isuga / Oca Lovitos who had hard time finding bearings with frustrating ground strokes resulting in unforced errors. In the 3rd set Jun Thomas pairing with Hajji Pilongo for Team Orange imposed his tennis experience over Team Green's pair of Roman Alcantara / Nasser Cayquep carrying his doubles from 0-1 deficit then surging ahead for good 7-5 and finished the game at 8-6that pushed Team Green 2-1 sets lead over Team Orange.
Lito Bentulan of Team Orange leveled the sets at his own will after the 4th set. After hammering out a 4-0 lead his speed slowed to let Team Green's Ben Hasim Salabin get close at 2-4 but denied his opponent any chance the rest of the games to shut off a 6-2 finish.
This tennis tournament is organized by SPTC (Samahang Pinoy Tennis Club) with the following officers: Pol FernandezChairman Roy Timtiman - Vice Chairman for-Internal Affairs Lito Bentulan - Vice Chairman for External Affairs Aman UsmanSecretary JM BravoTreasurer Ariel DomingoAuditor Nilo Gamba Jr - Press Relations Director . Mario Betorio Business Manager Bien Micu - Tournament Director. The Technical Committee is composed of Jun Tomas Oca Lovitos and Vic Rebong.