Baik Tennis Challenge, being organized by the Association of Tennis Clubs (ASTEC) was off to a flying start here last week. Taking place on the main tennis court of Albilad Hotel, the tournament's opening night was spiced up with a singles exhibition match between two newcomers to the Jeddah tennis community with known track records and credentials of their own. Salahuddin, a former No. 1 Under-18 star and Davis cupper from Bangladesh, went up against Roy David, a known Philippine international player who had reached the fourth round of Korean National Open Doubles in 2003. The Bangladeshi player took the best of the blistering exchange of passing shots in the over two-hour showdown, and emerged winner at 7-6, 6-4. The Best Uniform title winners were: Men's division – Toyota in Category C, JFTC in Category B2, Elaf in Category B1 and Smash Magic in Category LMx. Women's division – JISTC in Category C, Smash Magic in Categories B2 and B1, MILES in Category HMx. Adjudged Best Muse was Miss SPTC, while Toyota ran away with the Best Mascot title. The ceremonial activities began with teams' parade, followed by speeches of known personalities in the tennis community, capped by the inspirational talk of Consul Leo Tito Ausan Jr. of the Philippine Consulate General. The tournament main sponsor's message was delivered by Bassam Seyofi (PR manager of Al-Baik). Delta Marketing, a distributor of Prince tennis racquets in the kingdom, co-sponsors this event. Rading Bautista, the newly installed chairman of ASTEC, delivered acceptance speech. The ASTEC operating officers for Year 2010 after the new chairman are: Vice Chairmen - Romy Detera and Randy Martin; secretary - Chet Bautista; treasurer - Froilan Lim; auditor - Tonton Pana Jr; PROs - Kim Guro and Ben Micu; business managers - Ulyssez Perez, Roger Gonzales, Lito De Mesa and Angel Olmoguisat; tournament director - Froilan Malapad; technical committee chairman - Tata Amor; facilities/logistics chairman - Abe Manzanilla; Leo Lagdameo - web designer and photographer
