By Jun Atienza
JEDDAH — After 40 days of intense competition among various tennis clubs in Jeddah, ASTEC (Association of Tennis Clubs) successfully concluded its 29th tournament, the 8th AlBaik Tennis Challenge 2016.
The tournament, which was participated by 48 teams in both men’s and ladies divisions, was held daily at all four tennis court facilities of Trio-Ranch Country Club from Oct. 1 to Nov. 11.
Defending Champions in Category Lower Mix and B2, Uricane Tennis Club (UTC) teams, were upset by new challenger SGS Tennis Racquet Club (SGSTRC) and Hidada Tennis Club (HTC), respectively.
In the Lower Mix Category (combination of B2/C players), SGS scored a huge win against UTC, erstwhile undefeated and Group leader with a 5-0 win/loss record in the elimination rounds. SGS exacted revenge in the finals for its narrow 1-to-3 set loss against UTC in the round-robin phase, registering a big 8-point advantage after three sets, courtesy of its tandems of Rey Tablang/Nelson Ramos and Romeo Porras/Neil Sta. Clara, scoring 8-3 and 8-4 respectively, thus needing only 1 point in the fourth and final set to seal the championship crown for SGSTRC.
UTC suffered another painful setback when it lost in straight sets 8-5, 8-4, 8-4 against Hidada, powered by veterans Jun Ordonez/Joel Chan in the first set, Andrew Villan/Jojo Magdamo in the second and Macoy Hernandez/Ryan Bonquiren in this third to clinch the championship trophy in Category B2.
In other finals, Saudia City Tennis Club (SCTC) blasted the challenge of Elaf Group to claim the championship in the Middle Mix (B1/B2 combination) Category in similar fashion with straight sets victory (8-5, 8-3, 8-5). SCTC’s pair of Sammy Tomalondog/Allan Bandilao started off strongly in the first set, followed by the tandems of Von Daligdig/ Michael Landrito and Ricky Delgado/Ramil Abdua.
Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club (JRTC), meanwhile, took the titles in the other remaining categories “B1-Mix” and “C”. JRTC scored another upset win trouncing erstwhile front-runner and unbeaten ASTEC-Deltaz Marketing team, to whom it had lost via super-tie break (2/24 – 2/24) during the elimination rounds, and captured the top-prize in this team competition.
Organized by ASTEC Chairman Bernie Soguilon, Tournament Director Marlon Delfin, Advisers Francis Idjao and Jun Atienza, this 8th AlBaik tennis event is presented yearly in partnership with AlBaik Food Systems, Inc., and is supported by Deltaz Marketing, Skyfreight Forwarders, Sports Track and Qatar Airways.
