next »

[bookem]

Venue confirmed: it's back at Plantation Bay in Cebu.

PHI's must-win relegation playoff to stay in Group I.

Good luck guys... let's support them!!

[SLP888]

Must win!!!!! or else it takes 20 years to get back!

[jun tabura]

GOODLUCK PHIL!!

SANA LINESPERSON ULIT AKO!!HAHA

[jun tabura]

MAMIIT , GONZALEZ , HEUY AND PATROMBON

[Tennis King]

Dehado tayo dito... kung sa New Zealand walang nagawa mas malakas dihamak ang Taiwan.

[SLP888]

Marc Sieber should play!

[thetuan]

Camoy

The dude is German bro - he is not filipino

[Tennis King]

Camoy

The dude is German bro - he is not filipino

Fil-German... and he is or was interested to play for the country.

Best combo: Mamiit and Seiber for Singles, Huey and Alcantara or Mamiit/Huey for doubles.

Sa Plantation Bay pala gaganapin. Dapat PCA na lang, mas mahihirapan Taiwan kung clay- indoors kesa clay-outdoors. 

[altodds]

Camoy

The dude is German bro - he is not filipino

Fil-German... and he is or was interested to play for the country.

Best combo: Mamiit and Seiber for Singles, Huey and Alcantara or Mamiit/Huey for doubles.

Sa Plantation Bay pala gaganapin. Dapat PCA na lang, mas mahihirapan Taiwan kung clay- indoors kesa clay-outdoors. 

GOOD POINT!!!

[tommyfr]

Yes, he was interested to play for our country. And he is easily the second best player. But after the big incompetency from Philta regarding his passport, Sieber travelling across Germany to the authorities completely in vain, because of admin mistakes and incompetence at Philta.

Maybe he is not interested anymore.
 
And if we lose Taiwan and drop to group 2 it will take, probably many years until we can qualify again to group 1. Maybe 5 years or more....                                                                                                                                         

[Tennis King]

MAMIIT , GONZALEZ , HEUY AND PATROMBON

Gonzalez? Hindi mananalo kay Johnny yan pag dating sa clay. Besides, his Davis cup and SEA games results are dismal.   

[bookem]

Bit surprised as well at the choice of venue.

Given the do-or-die importance of the upcoming rubber, the choice of the shell surface between PCA and Plantation Bay is similar.  IMO, the difference is in the playing conditions and, as most of us know, indoors at PCA is much more oppressive (i.e., humid and hot) than being outdoors in Cebu.  Just look what happened to the Kiwis last year when they played at PCA.

Regardless, the decision's been made and let's support the team nonetheless .

[bookem]

Congratulations and good luck to Treat Huey on reaching the R16 MD at the USO by upsetting 14th seeds Juan Ignacio Chela/Eduardo Schwank.

Next up for Treat and former UVA teammmate Devvarman are the always-tough and 4th seeded Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi.

Hopefully this good run at the USO bodes well for Treat when he returns to help the DC guys.

[tommyfr]

let Patrombon, Arcilla and gonzales play practice sets days before the match. Chose the only that look strongest for the second singles. This is how many of the top nations do.

This is fair, open , relevant, practical.

Personally i think close matches Gonzales - Arcilla. Patrombon third.

[whizzard]

after rallying from 1-4 in the 3rd set, cecil lost the set in the tiebreaker where he led by 5-1.  taipei leads 2 sets to 1 in the first match.

[whizzard]

4th set. taipei leads 2-1

[whizzard]

taipei won the 1st match 

[Francis]

televised ba? anong station?

[whizzard]

di ata.  rygo's there watching.  just updating me thru text

2nd match:  Huey got the first set.

[whizzard]

Huey got the 2nd set!

[whizzard]

Huey won! 6-4 6-4 6-3

[Tennis King]

Good win for Huey. Jimmy Wang is one of Asia's top players years ago and is actually the best player in the Chinese Taipei line up.  Doubles will be crucial but I beleive we have the advantage!!!

[bookem]

Cecil's match was a tough loss... he was down 0-4 in the 3rd and fought back to get to a tiebreaker.

Treat looked very much in control of his match.

Re: television coverage.  I don't know if it's live but there are 3 cameras courtside and a GMA truck just outside the venue.  Perhaps coverage will be delayed?

[whizzard]

just got word that doubles is already in the 5th set!  sayang at ala sa tv. ganda malamang ng laban!

[whizzard]

we lost in the 5th set. 8-6

[reboj]

kung sa PCA eto ginawa baka 3-0 na Philippines 

Good luck bukas sa reverse singles!

[Tennis King]

things are not looking good now..

[bookem]

It remains to be seen whether the decision for the venue at P Bay was a wise one (rather than PCA)...

[Tennis King]

Definitely PCA would have been wiser venue, nothing compares to PCA's conditions and slow court. Besides there are elements in the PCA that we can control to our advantage. 

[whizzard]

was really puzzled why it was done there instead of pca.  we had a good track record at the latter.   

well on the bright side: our fellow players in cebu had a chance to watch the plays of pro tour players.

[whizzard]

1st reverse singles: Huey vs. Te Chen

1st set taipei: 6-3
2nd set: huey leads 4-1

[whizzard]

5-5 2nd set. nahabol pa!

[whizzard]

Tiebreak

[whizzard]

Taipei won the tiebreak (7-3).  We're now down 2 sets. 

[whizzard]

Taipei leads 2-0 3rd set

[whizzard]

2-2

[whizzard]

taipei leads 5-2. 


and now the end is near......

[whizzard]

game, set, and match taipei.  6-3 7-6 6-2.


Hello again Group 2.

[reboj]

Plantation Bay Win/Loss 0-2      

Uulit pa kayo dyan?   isip isip isip isip

[tommyfr]

Yes, really disappointing result and outcome in one way.

On the other hand, lets take this as an opportunity to build a better team for the future. And better local tennis culture from bottom and up.

Philippines has been in group one for longer than they really deserve, as it is only because the strength the team got from fil-am Cecil mamit, year after year. Behind him it is not much to call Group 1 standard. Note: Taipei beat us with their B team kind of.

And its a pity that a country with so much tennis interest still can not get more spectators and fans in their home match. From newpaper report from first day it seems just a couple of hundred spectators were there.

And it is a disgrace that some filipino workers, employed at a Taiwan owned company went there and cheered on the taiwan team. Disgrace, BOOOO! kick them out from the place and k..k their a..es. Selling out their souls. Traitors. And investigate what happende: if the taiwanes boss in that company somehow treatened them that if they did not cheer for taiwan, they would be fired etc, hus action should be brought to court, big fine (for ecx to Philta, like 10 million usd) and or kick him out from the country.

And it is time to get another management leading Philta. An organisation that year 2011 not even have a web site . Disgrace again. In any other modern country this would not be accepted by ruling bodies and the sports community, players, parents, journalists, politicians.

And it is now a chance that local Filipinos can take bigger part in Davis cup. Like Jeson Patrombon , Johnny Arcilla.

[whizzard]

And its a pity that a country with so much tennis interest still can not get more spectators and fans in their home match. From newpaper report from first day it seems just a couple of hundred spectators were there.

IMHO lang, i think the organizers shouldn't charge entrance fees just to watch the event.  yung mga kaya lang mag-spare ng amount ang nakakapanood.  para dun sa maraming club trainers,ballboys, and players eh malaking halaga na sa kanila ung entrance fee.

if i'm not mistaken, eh malaki ang nakukuha ng tournament from their sponsors. 

[Tennis King]

I hate to say this but we really do derserve to lose this one.  I win would have given our tennis officials some sense of complacency, hopefully this loss would serve as a wakeup call.

[SLP888]

As a Tennis fans I feel so sorry for the outcome!!!!!!

[bookem]

Given the importance of this rubber in keeping the PHI in Group I, I was very surprised that (at least for the casual fan) more variables weren't addressed so that the PHI team could be more in control, such as:

1.  Venue.  The TPE team may be more skilled and better conditioned but, IMO, all that would have been neutralized if the venue was at PCA.  Anyone who is familiar with PCA knows that the combination of slow shell, fair-to-poor air circulation, and reverberating echoes from the fans can all help to challenge a visiting team.  Remember NZL in 2010?  They went out 0-5 and repaid the blowout this year.

2.  Location.  Comments have been made about the seemingly lack or low number of attending fans.  Coupled with the entrance fee, the location not only away from MNL but also a bit far from downtown Cebu contributed to the sparse attendance.  At best, only half the stands were full; on the first day, nearly 25% of the fans were the so-called pro-TPE filipinos because they were paid by their Taiwanese employer (and may have been eligible for a bonus since TPE won).

3.  Price.  I am frankly not aware of the Plantation Bay ticket price since I had comp tickets.  Having said that, I recall that the DC matches when held at PCA were free, and thus ensured a packed, partisan, and vocal crowd.  Like the US Open, sometimes a boisterous crowd can help rally a nervous player.  I think there would have been more support if the prices were fan-friendly or, for that matter, free to help support the team.

Nonetheless, I will continue to cheer and support the team as they battle through Group 2 next year and hopefully regain entry into Group 1.

Go Pilipinas!

[SLP888]

Thanks bookem and hope to see you soon!

[bookem]

Hoy SLP... hope to see you soon as well.  Maybe coming down Feb '12?

For sure I'll be attending the Pac Oceania rubber.