Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Back with the big boys
AFTER eight months of toiling, the national tennis team has finally reaped the rewards of its labor when it barged into the premier Group 1 of the Davis Cup in the Asia/Oceania Zone after bashing host country and seeded team Kuwait last Sunday.
The RP team, composed of Filipino-Americans Eric Taino and Cecil Mamiit and homegrown talents Johnny Arcilla and Patrick Tierro blanked Kuwait, 5-0, at the outdoor courts of Bassam Al-Motawa Tennis Center, Meshref, Kuwait to clinch the zone title.
Mamiit was the first to strike as he won over Ahmad Muhammad, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. Taino then ousted Mohammad Ghareeb, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to win the second singles.
Mamiit and Taino teamed up in the doubles event over Ghareeb and Mohammad Khalig Siddiq, 7-6 (5), 0-6, 2-6, 6-2, 1-6.
In the non-bearing reverse singles, Tierro won over Al Ghareeb, 6-3, 6-1, while Arcilla defeated Muhammad, 6-1, 7-5, to seal the team’s final outcome.
As confirmed at the office of the Philippine Tennis Association, the country’s governing body for tennis, Taino and Mamiit played in the doubles, but the Davis Cup official website noted that it was Johnny Arcilla and Patrick Tierro who played.
Philta’s tournament referee Boy Leonora said that while they are also confused, the releases and communication that reached them confirmed that the Fil-Ams won the doubles event, while Tierro and Arcilla played in the reverse singles.
Nevertheless, it was a huge win for the Filipinos as the Philippines finally got back in the team of elites in this zone.
The RP team will play next year in this group alongside the zone’s top team including Thailand, Japan, Korea, China and India.
The RP team’s ride towards this outcome has been a long one as it was played in three countries and the team had to dispel three seeded teams.
First round
The first round was held here in the country last February, where the team won over Pakistan, also a seeded team, 4-1. In the second round in New Zealand, the team bashed the Kiwis, 4-1 to move on to the finals.
The Asia/Oceania zone is made up of four groups, the winners in the lower group will climb their way a notch higher until they make it in group I, while the bottom team will be relegated to the lower groups. If the Philippines will win in Goup I in 2008, it will advance to the world group play-offs, where it will then go against the world’s tennis superpowers. (MCB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 25, 2007 issue)
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