Friday, May 09, 2008 Barte boots out Arcilla By Rachel Chloe Palang & Karen Nacario UP Mass Comm Interns
Mother Nature played spoilsport in the Cebuana Lhuillier quarterfinals yesterday, throwing the schedule in disarray with a heavy downpour, while the top seed Johnny Arcilla was drenched in a loss to a 19-year-old eighth seed.
“It seems like the eggs we offered didn’t work,” said organizer April Toledo, referring to the offering they made at the Carmelites Monastery. People who want to avoid rains during their events traditionally offer a dozen eggs in the Monastery.
The rains poured at 11 a.m. and lasted for an hour. Since it takes a few hours for the courts to dry and be ready for matches, other matches were moved hours later.
“The courts have to be playable,” Toledo said, “If it’s still wet, there might be injuries.”
Despite the rain delay, matches scheduled for the day had to be accomplished.
“We will just play it until the wee hours of the morning,” Toledo said, “We have to finish the matches of the day.”
Meanwhile, Ralph Kevin Barte scored the biggest upset yesterday after defeating the top-seeded Arcilla, while Yannick Guba and Arvin Ruel also advanced.
Barte, who is seeded eighth, took a step closer to the finals with his 7-6, 6-4 win over Arcilla, who was playing with a ham string injury.
The 19-year old Barte, who hails from Davao, pushed Arcilla to the limits of his injured leg by mixing his baseline shots with nifty drop shots.
“He (Barte) knew I had an injury, (pulled hamstring), so gipadagan-dagan ko niya,” said Arcilla, who still has a shot at a title in doubles with Patrick Tierro.
While Arcilla was scrambling for his shots, Barte played steady in the match that lasted an hour and a half.
Scream
After going to a tie break in the first set, both players were still tied at 3 in the second and fought for 10 deuces before Barte got ahead 4-3.
Barte screamed “Gamay na lang!” in an effort to psyche himself up after getting ahead, 5-3 and 30-love but Arcilla fought back by winning four straight points for 5-4.
However, it was the closest the No. 1 could get as he lost the next game.
For his part, Barte never thought he could win the match, and even believed Arcilla had the upper hand.
“He is good in using the forehand,” Barte said. “Chamba lang siguro
On the other hand, fifth seed Elbert Anasta lost to fourth seed Guba, 2-6, 3-6. Rolando Ruel won against Joel Palao, 6-3, 6-4.
Completing the semifinalists was RP No. 2, Patrick John Tierro, who defeated Rocky Paglalunan with ease, 6-1, 6-3. Although the match was delayed twice by the rain, Tierro wrapped it up with a straight set win.
Tierro will next face Ruel, while Barte will play Guba in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, in doubles, Jean Henri Lhuillier and Jun Toledo advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Jessie Lapore and Randy Villanueva 6-2, 2-6 (10-3) late Tuesday. The Ruel brothers, Arvin and Rolando, won against Jandrick De Castro and Arcie Maño, 6-0, 6-2 to make it to the last eight. Another team of brothers, the Denopol twins, Rey and Roy, beat Pablo Olivarez and Alexander Lazaro 6-7, 7-5 (10-4). Other pairs who advanced include Joseph Arcilla and Chung Soo-Han, who won against Bo Alburo and Joel Palao, 6-3, 2-6 (10-5); Ronard Joven and Rocky Paglalunan, who beat Kennex Abadia and Ryan Repunte, 7-5, 6-1.
Arcilla and Tierro were to face Lhuillier and Toledo at press time, while the Ruel brothers were to compete against Chung Soo-Han and Joseph Arcilla. The Denopol twins were to face Anasta and Guba, while Alcantara and Barte was to face Joven and Paglanunan.
