RIYADH, Nov. 7, 2000 – Saeed Al Shabib, Noel Mejia, Eduardo De Souza
and Othman Enezi defeated their respective rivals Hussam Al Daghfaq, Ryuichi Iwamoto, Mark
Stanley and Baqer Abu Khaleif to race into semifinal in the Class-A singles at the 25th
El Faleh Sports House annual Desert Classic Open Tennis tournament being played at the
hotel Intercontinental recreation center.
 In their quarterfinal matches,
Shabib, a local city player, beat his countryman Daghfag 7-6, 6-4. Earlier, he ousted
Tawfiq Moafa 6-2, 6-1. Filipino Mejia had an easy time against his Japanese opponent,
Iwamoto, winning 6-2, 6-2. He will now meet the favorite Enezi in his semifinal clash. In
his encounter, Enezi had to work hard to overcome a strong challenge from Baqer Abu
Khaleif to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. The loser had earlier beaten Muhammed Shukri 6-1, 6-1.
Souza, the only Portuguese player, set aside the fighting Mark Stanley 6-2, 7-8, 6-2 and
will now take on Shabib for a place in the final. Stanley of Great Britain and the
recreation manager at the Intercon hotel was given a walkover earlier against the top seed
Badr Mogaiyel. The Saudi Arabian International did not turn up for the match, as his
mother was sick, said Farouk El Laithy, the tournament director. Othman Al Enezi, another
Saudi former national team player, baring any upsets, now stands a good chance of
capturing the prestigious crown in this category. Along with Joey Samia, he has already
won the Class-A doubles title here.
In Class-B singles, Adam Socor, Abdullah Sughaiyer, Hisham Riani and Saeed Shabib trying
his luck in this category as well, made to the semifinal round. Socor in a keen tussle
down Ahmed Hossan 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. Shabib overpowered Salim Bitar 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. Sughaiyer
eliminated Shukri 6-1, 6-0. The Saudi national coach, Hisham Riani stopped Simon
Palfreyman 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Making to the semifinal round in Class-C singles are Robert Derequito, Omar Al Swaidan,
Ahmed Sulaiman and Alan Roldan. In their quarterfinal matches, Derequito beat Lotfi
Maghmoul 7-5, 6-0. Swaidan ousted Fidel Ulan 7-6, 6-3. Earlier, the victor struggled to
defeat young Aamer Javed 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sulaiman breezed past Salah Zahrani 6-7, 6-3, 6-0
and Roldan sent Nicol Sandigan reeling out, winning 7-6, 0-6, 6-7.
In the juniors Under-14, strong favorite Aamer Javed, Michell Dela Cruz, Abdelhamid Riani
and Abdulaziz Abu Rasheed entered the semifinal. Some amendments have been made to the
scoring for the junior categories. Javed routed Hamza Iqbal 4-0, 4-0. Dela Cruz stopped
Nawaf Al Faraj 4-2, 5-3. Rasheed, also a strong contender for the crown here won by
walkover against Abdullah El Ounaizi.
Ben Harries, Renato Jr. Suarez and Angelo Ray Suarez won over their rivals to enter the
last four in juniors’ Under-12 singles. Also joining them was Abdelhamid Riani.
Earlier, he has also clinched a slot in the Under-14 semifinal. In their march forward,
Ben Harries routed Moan Otaibi 4-1, 4-0 and Yasen Otaibi 4-0, 4-1. Renato ousted Charles
Beyrouthy 5-3, 5-4 and then later on eliminated Adam Ramsey 4-1, 3-5, 4-1. Angelo won by
default over Mahdi Bahlouli while Abdelhamid swept aside Nahar Al Rashed 4-0, 4-0.
Defending champion, Mario Flores continued his march forward in the Over-45 singles. He
sailed past M. James with ease 6-3, 6-1. Others winners also advanced into the next round
here. Rodolfo Ancheta beat Pons Baltazar 6-1, 6-1. Nasser Shaye down Bernie De Castro 6-1,
6-2. Ramon Flores defeated Thong Asuncion 6-1, 6-4 and in his second clash, overcame
Renato Soriano 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Brian Robinson triumphed over Raulito Briones 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Najeh Dawas got a walkover against John Faris. Ky Le Hoang beat Claes Lundberg 6-2, 6-2
and Leo Malinao ousted Thomas Bartosik 6-0, 6-2.
The tournament is mainly sponsored by El Faleh Sports House. Other companies supporting
are Pepsi, Power Horse Energy Drink, Saudi Globalstar, SGB Dabal for scaffolding,
Promoaction and DDB. |
