Gives RP team fair Shake vs Koreans: Neutral ref key to win

MANILA, Philippines - The never-say-die spirit of the Cebuana Lhuillier Philippine Davis Cup team fueled the improbable 3-2 win over Korea from a 0-2 deficit in the Asia Oceania Group I tie but neutral referee Puneet Gupta of India played a vital role in ensuring fairness in the deciding fifth match at the 1,600-seat Chanwon Municipal Tennis Center last Sunday.

“We felt there were bad calls from the Korean linesmen in the first four matches so before the fifth match, (playing captain) Cecil (Mamiit) and I spoke with Mr. Gupta and asked if he could please be on top of the situation and talk to the linesmen to be fair,” said Philippine Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva.

“We told Mr. Gupta we just wanted a fair shake. True enough, there was no single bad call the entire match as Treat (Huey) dominated play and clinched the tie for us.”

Huey disposed of Suk Young Jeong, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3, in grand style, starting with four straight aces and finished with 21. “Treat was so fired up with Cecil’s (earlier) win that he promised not to let the team down,” said Villanueva.

Huey, 25 and ranked No. 722 in the world, played the opening singles and lost a marathon to No. 313 Yong Kyu Lim, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) last Friday. He led, 6-4, in the third set tiebreak and lost, 9-7, and also blew a 4-3 lead, up a break, in the fourth set tiebreak.

Mamiit, 34, frittered away a 2-0 advantage to lose to Jeong, 0-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2, in the second singles. Battling cramps in his right hand and right calf starting the third set, Mamiit tried to buy time by tanking in the fourth but couldn’t hang on. Mamiit blamed his new power shake that ironically, drained his energy because of excessive sugar and caused the cramps. It was the first time he suffered a meltdown in his long career. Mamiit, ranked No. 515, called the cramps incident a fluke.

Mamiit initially backed out of the crucial doubles last Saturday but on the morning of the match, decided to play with Huey. In a display of guts, Mamiit and Huey downed Hyun Joon Kim and Jae Min, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Last Sunday, Mamiit was back to grind out another do-or-die match in the reverse singles. He was tentative at the onset, careful not to overstrain and overexert. Lim raced to a 2-0 lead and was twice up a break in the third set but Mamiit refused to yield. Mamiit stormed back and at set point in the third set, fired a forehand crosscourt that Lim desperately chased down only to twist his ankle in the process. Lim crumpled to the ground and the Koreans called a medical time-out. With the fourth set tied at 1-all, Lim limped off, threw his racket on the ground and quit.

“Even without Lim’s injury, Cecil would’ve beaten him as he finally got his game going in the third set,” said Villanueva. Mamiit won, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 1-1 (retired).

It was the Philippines’ first win over Korea in a Davis Cup tie after five consecutive losses. In a rebuilding mode, Korea battled the Philippines with a young team – Lim, 19, Jeong, 17, Kim, 22 and Seol, 20.

What made the victory even more significant was it came on Korean soil and kept the Philippines in Group I. Next year, New Zealand will join the Philippines, Chinese-Taipei, Japan, China and Uzbekistan in Group I with Kazakstan, India and possibly Australia advancing to the World Group. This year, there were eight teams in Group I. Villanueva said the reduction to six teams will enhance the Philippines’ chances to move up to the World Group playoffs and award byes to the two top seeds in the first round. The Philippines has qualified for the World Group playoffs only once, in 1991.

The Philippines’ dramatic win over Korea was reminiscent of a similar comeback from 0-2 to beat Japan, 3-2, in Manila in 1988. The Philippine team was then made up of Raymond Suarez, Rod Rafael, Bong Battad, Ringo Navarossa and Danilo Pila with Butch Bacani as captain-coach.

Mamiit and Huey will represent the country at the Asian Games this November. Mamiit won a bronze in singles and teamed with Eric Taino for a bronze in doubles at the last Asiad in Doha. Huey took the silver in singles at the Southeast Asian Games last year.

The Davis Cup heroes arrive in Manila at midnight via Asiana Airlines and will appear at the PSA Forum this morning.

Villanueva said a group of Filipinos came out to cheer for the team last Sunday and motivated the players. “The team wanted to win it for them,” he said. “They were so passionate in cheering and so proud of the team for beating the Koreans in Korea. Some of the Filipinos were musicians from the Fused Band that plays in our hotel. After the match, they invited us to celebrate and we sang the whole night with the band.”