Cecil Mamiit, Johnny Arcilla, Patrick John "PJ" Tierro and Eric Taino
Davis Cup - Philippine Team
KUWAIT CITY: Patrick John Tierro and Johnny Arcilla routed separate rivals Sunday to complete a Filipino sweep of Kuwait in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group II Davis Cup Tennis finals here.
Tierro thumped Ali Ghareeb, 6-3, 6-1, while Arcilla came back from a 1-4 deficit in the second set to beat Ahmad Rabeea Muhammad, 6-1, 7-5, in the reverse singles of the best-of-five matches tie to formalize the Philippines’ entry into the elite Group I of the zone next year.
The Philippines had clinched the tie on Saturday when an ailing Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino bested Muhammad Al-Ghareeb and Muhammad Siddiq, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, in the pivotal doubles match.
Mamiit, who was rushed to a hospital Friday evening after contracting an allergy (not food poisoning as earlier reported), started the Philippine juggernaut with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 rout of Rabeea in Friday’s opening singles after which Taino made it 2-0 for the Philippines by humbling Kuwaiti No. 1 Al-Ghareeb, 6-2, 5-3, 7-5.
The win sent the Philippines back to Group I where it played last in 1997 and will wade into the 2008 competitions in the company of Australia, Japan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, India, Kazakhstan and Taiwan.
“We must get ready for Group I early. This will be the real competition,” the 31-year-old Mamiit said.
Mamiit also assured everyone that his allergy has “gone away” and was sure it was not caused by the tinolang manok provided for the team, upon Mamiit’s request, by the members of the Filipino Tennis Association in Kuwait (FTAK) and cooked by Cristy Miguel from Pangasinan.
“The whole team was eating tinola for the past week and I was the only one hit by allergy. I hope that in our future campaigns in other countries, the Filipinos there will give the same support the Filipinos here gave us. And in behalf of the team, we’d like to thank them for this,” Mamiit said
“Phase three of our program is now complete but this will not be the end,” nonplaying captain Martin Misa said, adding that the team will now turn its full attention to the country’s campaign in the coming Southeast Asian Games where the Nationals will defend their men’s team title and Mamiit his singles and doubles crowns with Taino.
Mamiit and Taino left Sunday night to catch a tournament in Los Angeles while Tierro, Arcilla, Misa and coach Chris Cuarto will be back in Manila Tuesday evening.