Thursday, May 15, 2008 Sally Mae, Olivarez in grudge rematch today
SALLY Mae Siso’s bid to make a comeback in the Juntaphil Tennis Competition, is about to hit another snag as she is once more to face Shanine Olivarez in the quar–terfinals following separate wins yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Courts.
All throughout the summer, Siso had never lost to Olivarez, until last week. Siso however claims, these were not under normal circumstances because she lost due to the distractions of bad calls from umpires and paid-off cheering squad.
Yesterday, before rains totally messed up the scheduled matches, Siso won her second round outing against Subic’s Keisha Viatico, 6-1, 6-2, to arrange a quarterfinal showdown with Olivarez.
Siso is all pumped up to retaliate for her loss to her fellow RP Under-14 teammate. However, since the rains are ruining the lined up matches, organizers are contemplating on holding the remainder of the competition at a venue that is not neutral for Siso—at the Olivarez’s covered courts in Parañaque.
“I want to beat her so bad but I don’t think I can do that at her own court,” said Siso.
The Siso siblings Sally Mae and older brother Bernardine Niño are left to fend for themselves. “It’s okay. There are people who support us. We will not give up without fighting,” said Niño, the big brother in him coming out, adding that the other players from the Visayas and Mindanao were ready to back them up if the battle comes to the bleachers.
Niño added that he will fight against holding the rest of the competitions at the Olivarez’s tennis courts. “They were able to manipulate the ball boys and the calls here at Rizal, how much more if we are going to play in their home court,” Niño said.
Sally Mae said that if organizers still force to hold the rest of the competition at Olivarez courts, she may not finish it.
“I may still play but if there will be too many bad calls, I will definitely retire. I am not a sore loser, but I will not lose because of that,” the 13-year-old Sally Mae added.
Niño, meanwhile, was supposed to play against Joseph Baldonado in Round 2 of the Boys 16 division early in the afternoon, but the match was postponed for more than five hours due to heavy rains. Niño managed pulled through in a late-day match with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
The other Cebuanos, whose matches were also stopped because of the rain were University of Cebu’s Larry Antigua and the now Manila-based John Arnel Go. (MCB)
