Family affair for motel siblings dominate Crown Paddle tablenetfest

The Crown Paddle Table Tennis Tournament at SM City-Cebu last Sunday turned out to be a family affair as the Motel siblings went home with the most number of medals.

University of Cebu's Michael Motel overpowered his older brother and teammate Emmanuel anew in five grueling sets to claim the premier men's open title.

Just like in their previous encounters, Michael's reign did not come out handy as Emmanuel conjured all his strength to give his brother a spirited challenge.

Pride was also at stake as Emmanuel was named as the best table tennis player during the PRISAA National Games recently in Lingayen, Pangasinan.

Michael won the first two sets, 11-9, 11-6, but Emmanuel was not about to surrender, rallying back with identical scores of 11-7 in the next two frames to forge a rubbermatch.

Michael, however, stayed cool under heavy fire to finally knock the lights off Emmanuel via an 11-8 decision.

Jay Eribert Impuesto, who beat Emmanuel Motel in their match, outplayed Glendo Nayre to win the third place honors.

In the distaff side, Michael's younger sister, Mary Grace Motel, defeated Sybil Joren, three sets to one.

Mary Grace won the first set, 11-9, but dropped the second to Joren at 8-11.

Mary Grace then employed better strategy to outlast Joren in the succeeding sets, 11-9 and 11-8 to seize the crown.

On the other hand, little known Geofrey Apas scored an upset victory over the tried and tested Benedict Gantuangko in the boys 15-under division.

It was a hard-earned triumph for Apas because after pulling a 13-11 win in the first set, he struggled to rule the second set, 11-8, for a 2-0 lead.

Gantuangko bounced back, 11-9, but Apas went for the kill in the fourth set via an 11-5 rout. Dannel Jay Tormis took the third place trophy.

In the other action, Jennifer Jacalan handily won the girls 15-under tiara by slamming Elona Dane Tormis in three sets, 11-4, 16-14, 11-9.

Another Motel, Mary Angelie, wound up third to complete the Motel's medal collection with two golds, two silvers and a bronze in this Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP)-organized competition.