Priests battle for tennis supremacy in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Monsignor Jose “Jojo” Dosado Jr. of Cebu and Father Fernando Suarez II of Mindoro prevented the priests from Bicol from lording it over in the 6th Friar Suarez Cup National Tennis Championship for Priests held from February 3 to 5 in Cebu City.

Dosado clinched the 56 and Above title in his first participation of this event when he thrashed Father Domingo Tapic, who is also of Cebu, 8-4.

Suarez, on the other hand, had no trouble retaining his title in the 46-55 category after Alvin Codilla, who had a chance to make it two titles for Cebu, opted to default in their finals match due to cramps.

The doubles competition also had a new title holder in the pair of Arnel Haber and Jerry Pascual, both from Bicol. The duo defeated the Tagum pair of Julius Cesar Anas and Noel Gastones, 8-5.

Haber had the chance to bring home two titles as he also grabbed a finals ticket in the 45 and Below category. He, however, decided to default allowing fellow Bicol priest Father Neil Sureta to take the title without shedding a sweat.

If not for Father Suarez’s entry in the finals of the 46-55 and Anas-Gastones in the doubles, the tournament would have boiled down to Cebu versus Bicol as both had three playing priests advancing to the finals.

In the 56 and Above, Dosado made sure that his first participation in the tournament was memorable by winning the title.

“I have been joining tennis competitions but I stopped for more than a decade. The last time I won was still in the 1990s,” Dosado said. Despite taking a break from competitions, Dosado admitted that he had continued to play the sport during a weekly get-together with other priests. They call their group the “Tuesday Group” because they meet every Tuesdays.

Dosado advanced to the finals with an 8-1 routing of Monsignor Nene Caldoza of Bacolod in the semifinals and an 8-3 taming of Bishop Precioso Cantillas of Maasin, Southern Leyte in the quarterfinals.

It was unfortunate that he had to face fellow Cebu priests Tapic, who halted defending champion Father Tony Villanueva of Paranaque. Villanueva actually retired in their quarterfinal match with Tapic leading at 6-2.

In the 46-55 category, before being handed the title on a silver platter, Suarez scored a love set against Isidritto “Rere” Ducao of Cebu to set up a finals match against another Cebu priest, Codilla. Suarez also received a free entry into the semifinals after he was awarded a walkover against Waren Paramio of Tagum in the quarterfinals.

In the 45 and Below, Sureta had breezed through his opponents receiving a bye in the first round, then scoring an 8-1 thrashing of Emmanuel Emata of Tagum in the second round and blanking Rino Guaring of Tuguegarao in the third round. He was then taken to a tiebreaker by SVD’s Paulus Karmani which he won in his favor, 8-7 (7-1), in the quarterfinals before a walk in the park semifinals match against Didoy Molina, 8-1, of Manila.

The doubles match proved to be the most exciting competition of the tournament starting with Haber and Pascual’s dismissal of the defending champion tandem of Ducao and Joseph Larida of Cebu in the final 16 round. The pairs were tied at 7-all. The Cebu pair even managed to lead the tiebreaker at 5-2 before cramps caught up with Ducao and the eventual champions prevailed, 8-7 (7-5).

In their finals match, Anas and Gastones put up a valiant effort and managed to tie the match at 2-all before Gastones got hobbled by cramps. The pair even managed to save four matchpoints on their serve, 5-7, before Haber and Pascual closed out the match in their turn to serve. 

A little more than 140 priests from all over the country gathered for this annual event, which is considered bonding time for the Philippine clergymen as well as a time for them to rejuvenate themselves.

Held in Cebu for the first time, the tournament had five playing venues—Alta Vista Golf and Country Club (AVGCC) in the hills of Pardo, Citigreen Tennis Resort in Punta Princesa, Talisay Tennis Club, Pardo Tennis Club and La Paloma Tennis Club in Labangon. The three-day event kicked off with a mass at the AVGCC presided by Bishop Rick Baccay of Tuguegarao.

Since this tournament was started in 2010, it has always been held in Metro Manila and has gathered as much as 200 priests from around the country in 2014 from the 50 that it attracted on its first edition.

The just concluded tournament saw priests coming from 19 provinces, 16 dioceses and five religious congregations seeing action. It even had bishops playing—Baccay, Cantillas and Antonio Palang of San Jose Occidental Mindoro.

Healing priest Father Suarez had thought of this event during the National Congress of the Clergy in 2010. He decided to bring it to Cebu because he wanted the other priests to see what Cebu has to offer.

“Cebu has the facilities, the hospitality and spirituality. “Hindi kami nahirapan talaga sa (We did not have any difficulties) pag-organize, we were surprised. Lahat nandito (Everything is here), accommodation, transportation and food,” said Father Suarez.

The healing priest also added that Cebu had always had the most number of participants since the creation of this tournament, which has three age categories in the singles competition—45 and Under, 46-55, and the 56 and Above. It also has an open doubles competition.

Aside from representing the Philippines to the annual International Tennis Championship for Priests in Poland later this year and the trip to Rome, all winners also received a motorcycle.

The 48-year-old healing priest said that before getting into tennis, he used to play basketball. But because he did not have the height, he instead learned to play tennis. He thought of the tournament because he saw it as an opportunity for all priests in the country to meet and get-together at least once a year.

The priests have to pay a P1,000 registration fee. All fees collected are doubled by donors and donated to beneficiaries mostly parishes or victims of natural calamities. Past beneficiaries were typhoon Pablo victims who received P1 million.

This year, all proceeds of the tournament will be donated to the victims of typhoon Ruby in Bicol. The tournament has also helped build tennis courts in Tagum, Batangas and Mindoro because Father Suarez said that they also want to help promote the sport of tennis.

In future editions, Father Suarez said that he plans to open the tournament to other religions as he is active in ecumenism. – Rappler.com