Hard-earned SEAG gold glitters all the more for RP netters

For Cecil Mamiit, Treat Huey and the rest of the RP men’s tennis team, it was a gold medal worth the eight hours of starving and exhaustion in the Laos 25th Southeast Asian Games. Mamiit and Co. endured a long battle of wills against Thailand, bannered by world-ranked Danai Udomchoke, Saturday night and came out victorious, 2-1, to clinch the hard-earned gold in the team event. Starting out with the first singles match featuring the 24-year-old Huey against Kittiphong Wachiramanowong at 2 p.m. Laos time (3 p.m. in Manila), the showdown wouldn’t be completed until 10:30 in the evening (11:30 p.m. Manila time) when Huey and Mamiit finally slammed the door on twin brothers Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana in the deciding doubles match, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, for the win.

The doubles event alone took almost two hours to finish. “It was very exhausting but it feels really good to help the team," said Huey, whom team manager Randy Villanueva said needed to take a quick, cold shower after the match for his whole body not to suffer cramps. Huey was actually starting to fell cramps as early as the first set of the deciding match but gutted it out. The men’s team final at the tennis court of the National Sports Complex finished so late the Filipino tennis delegation had nothing to eat by the time they reached the Athletes Village. “We couldn’t find anything to eat. All we have were just Pringles and cookies, so I just looked forward to having breakfast the next day," said the 33-year-old Mamiit. But the country’s top-ranked netter said they no longer thought about fatigue and aching muscles, especially upon learning the team’s victory served as the country’s lone gold haul for the day. “I feel a little bit of a savior," Mamiit said with a laugh. “But it feels good. “We didn’t know that (RP’s lone gold medal for Saturday). It’s good news that we didn’t know it. Had we known it, there could have been more pressure on us." Mamiit, who was once ranked no. 72 in the world and whose career wins include a stunning upset of tennis great Andre Agassi, felt bad the match had to be stretched to the deciding doubles after he lost the second singles match against Udomchoke, 6-2, 6-4. Huey earlier claimed the first single against Kittiphong, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. “I’m a bit disappointed of not really closing it out at 2-0," he admitted. But then he credited Huey for willing him back and eventually, winning the tough match against their gritty Thai opponent. “Treat pulled me through with the confidence and everything. And I think that’s what got us through. Treat and I worked as a team towards the end and never gave up overall," Mamiit said. Having gotten the job done, Mamiit finally got his reward with a hearty breakfast Sunday. Asked what he had for his meal, Mamiit quickly replied, “Omelet." - GMANews.TV