JEDDAH — Team RATC shook-off a first set loss before beating the RSTP Angels 2-1 in Category C as they opened the Ladies Division of the 4th Al Baik Team Tennis Tournament. ASTEC men's LMX team also squeaked a win over a depleted TAC team for a come-from-behind win via points. Over at the Al-Bilad Hotel tennis courts, team JCC barged into the winning column of the men's HMX category as they blanked the opposing team Shuman-JIS. RSTP Angels surged to an early lead in the match as Yham Busran-Nery with Krisanta Dela Cerna took command of the 1st set to subdue Jade Calla Callueng/Angie Romero with an 8-5 win. In the second set RATC's Jenny Nebrida/Jamila Panizales turned the tables on RSTP as they won over Ailene/Kristina Endriga at 8-3 to level the count at 1-1. In the 3rd set, Doris Nabales/Jane Cananea proved to be the better pair as they conquered Fe Abat/Eva Escalera 8-3 and give team RATC their first victory in the tournament. Playing in the men's division ASTEC's LMX category entry narrowly won on points over TAC. After splitting the first two sets with ASTEC's Rey Villaraza/Ryan Tiu scoring an 8-5 win over Zaldy Capili/Lito Zamudio in the 1st set and TAC's Harry Bantuan/Mitchell Naiessy closing a tie-break win against Tata Amor/Arnold Perez 8-7 in the 2nd set, tied the match at 1-1. In the 3rd set TAC's Art Obra/Allan Bandilaw over-powered Jun Tomas/Loy Atienza with an 8-0 result. ASTEC's Richard Harris/Romy Romero were awarded an 8-0 walk-over in the 4th set as TAC players failed to make it on time. With the final tally tied at 2-2, points were then counted and victory was awarded to ASTEC as they had a higher score at 23-20. Team JCC completed a slam over team Shuman-JIS after it won the match with a 4-0 scorecard. Starting off strong with Aiman Randa/Carl Assaf's 8-2 win over Teody Bea/Sanny Valencia in the first set followed by the 8-7 singles win of Mohammad Farsi over Michael Marquez, JCC stormed to a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. A tightly-fought 3rd set which Maan Janoudi/Jeck Olaguer was able to close at 8-6 over Arnold Bernardino/MJ Melendrez spelled victory for team JCC at an unreachable 3-0 score. To make matters worse for Shuman-JIS their 4th set pair were a no-show which awarded an automatic 8-0 win for George Bornales/Rudy Menor for the 4-0 sweep. Organized and managed by the Association of Tennis Clubs, Jeddah (ASTEC), this team tennis tournament is being organized in partnership with Al Baik Food Systems Co. as the major sponsors under the aegis of its PR Manager Bassam Al-Seyofi and Marketing Coordinator Mahmoud Al-Jaber. Others supporting the event are Deltaz Marketing (Racquet Shop) through Maher Tebakhi and Amin Malik and Al-Raddadi Clinic through Ahmad Abdulrahman, Dr. Jethro Fajardo and Tony Bustamante.
