Fair Play: The greatest story never shown
TELL me, how many of you have had enough of that wedding that wasn’t a wedding but really was a wedding in primetime news?
All of you?
That’s news.
It sells.
But wouldn’t it be great though had the same networks allotted a minute—even just a minute—about one of the Philippines’ greatest comebacks in tennis?
It happened in faraway Korea, when the Philippine team faced the hosts—who were the seeded players and had the choice of venue—in the Group 1 playoffs of the Davis Cup.
The loser would be relegated to Group 2; the winner stays in Group 1 in the Asia/Oceana zone.
After the first two matches, it looked like the Philippines was headed to Group 2.
Treat Huey lost in four sets to Yong Kyu Lim, and Cecil Mamiit suffered one of the weirdest turnarounds in tennis. After giving up just one game to take a 2-0 lead, Mamiit won just five games in the last three to lose, 6-0, 6-1, 3-6, 0-6, 2-6, to Suk Yung Jeong. (I had to double-check the scores because it’s quite unbelievable.)
But what is unbelievable is what happened next.
Anyone who’s played tennis knows how difficult it is to fight from 2-0 down.
Anyone who knows sports knows how difficult it is to play to win when you’re losing.
That’s why it’s a pity that not everyone is going to know what the RP Davis Cup team did.
Faced with a 2-0 deficit, the Philippines stayed alive after taking the doubles match, with Mamiit and Huey teaming up to beat Hyun-Joon Kim and Jae Min Seol, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
In the reverse singles, Mamiit won a match he was losing. Against Lim, Mamiit was trailing two sets to one before the Korean was forced to retire in the fourth set.
Just like that, the Philippines was level with the host.
And then Treat Huey gave us a treat.
He beat Suk-Young Jeong in three sets, making sure the Philippines stays in Group 1.
Mamiit, when he won the gold in the Southeast Asian Games in 2005 on home soil, celebrated as if he’d just broken the Grand Slam record. I wonder how he celebrated that win against Korea.
Did he, as he did in 2005, grab the Philippine flag and dance in center court?
I wish he did.
But sadly, we won’t know what he did.
Because they’re not Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez.
And because theirs is the greatest story never shown.
All of you?
That’s news.
It sells.
But wouldn’t it be great though had the same networks allotted a minute—even just a minute—about one of the Philippines’ greatest comebacks in tennis?
It happened in faraway Korea, when the Philippine team faced the hosts—who were the seeded players and had the choice of venue—in the Group 1 playoffs of the Davis Cup.
The loser would be relegated to Group 2; the winner stays in Group 1 in the Asia/Oceana zone.
After the first two matches, it looked like the Philippines was headed to Group 2.
Treat Huey lost in four sets to Yong Kyu Lim, and Cecil Mamiit suffered one of the weirdest turnarounds in tennis. After giving up just one game to take a 2-0 lead, Mamiit won just five games in the last three to lose, 6-0, 6-1, 3-6, 0-6, 2-6, to Suk Yung Jeong. (I had to double-check the scores because it’s quite unbelievable.)
But what is unbelievable is what happened next.
Anyone who’s played tennis knows how difficult it is to fight from 2-0 down.
Anyone who knows sports knows how difficult it is to play to win when you’re losing.
That’s why it’s a pity that not everyone is going to know what the RP Davis Cup team did.
Faced with a 2-0 deficit, the Philippines stayed alive after taking the doubles match, with Mamiit and Huey teaming up to beat Hyun-Joon Kim and Jae Min Seol, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
In the reverse singles, Mamiit won a match he was losing. Against Lim, Mamiit was trailing two sets to one before the Korean was forced to retire in the fourth set.
Just like that, the Philippines was level with the host.
And then Treat Huey gave us a treat.
He beat Suk-Young Jeong in three sets, making sure the Philippines stays in Group 1.
Mamiit, when he won the gold in the Southeast Asian Games in 2005 on home soil, celebrated as if he’d just broken the Grand Slam record. I wonder how he celebrated that win against Korea.
Did he, as he did in 2005, grab the Philippine flag and dance in center court?
I wish he did.
But sadly, we won’t know what he did.
Because they’re not Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez.
And because theirs is the greatest story never shown.
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