KUWAIT CITY, Feb 1: Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) came from behind to win 7-5 against the Suzuki Marine team whilst reigning champions Top Spinners thrashed KWTSTEEL/Diplomat 9-2 in their doubles games on match day two of the KOCTC/FTAK 20th Spring Invitational Team Tennis Tournament Elimination Round Friday at the KOCTC Tennis Club in Ahmadi. Steelers also managed to inflict a 7-4 defeat on the Al-Yasra Food team in the last match.
After six days of hard work at their workplaces, all KOCTC/FTAK 20th Spring Invitational Team Tennis Tournament teams’ members returned to the tennis court to sweat it out for the elimination round qualifiers.
On court number one, the KOC team locked horns with the Suzuki Marine team with the latter roaring past the former in the early going by taking the C/C-1, B/B-1 and B/C-1 category matches after a very tightly fought game in which the scores were very especially the B/B-1 category which was taken by the Suzuki team in the tie-breaker. KOC fought hard and got their efforts rewarded by winning the AL/BH-1 category match with a wider margin.

The game at that point became a see-saw affair with fortunes swinging in the direction both sides. Suzuki took the next match, the A/AL-1 category while KOC won the AL/BH-2 category. Suzuki again went ahead to outplay the KOC team in the tie-breaker B/C-2 match to snatched the win. From then on, KOC team took five remaining matches winning the A/AL-2 in a closely contested match. Next was the B/B-1 in which KOC’s pair dominated outclassed their opponents to win the match. The ladies L/L-1 was a very close match but the KOC ladies successfully fought off their opponents to take the game. The C/C-2 match was won by KOC team when they successfully adopted a way of play that limited the Suzuki pair from winning points. The last match saw the KOC ladies pair in the L/L-2 segment take a commanding lead and finally went ahead to win the game, making the final score line 7-5 in favor of KOC. The results give KOC a 2-match win in two meetings, placing them at par with Top Spinners the current champs.

Standings
Team MP W L
Top Spinners 2 2 0
KOC 2 2 0
Steelers 2 1 1
Suzuki Marine 2 1 1
Al-Yasra Food 2 0 2
Kwt Steel/Diplomat 2 0 2

(MP-matches played, W-won, L-lost)
In another thrilling encounter on court number two, defending champion Top Spinners squad played against the three-time champ KWTSTEEL/Diplomat team. The first match which was the C/C-1 category was easily won by the Top Spinners duo. The next match, B/B-1 category saw the Diplomats clinch an upset win over the Top Spinners after putting up a spirited performance in a in a tightly fought tie-breaker. Unfazed by their shocking loss in the previous game, the Top Spinners squad strategized and came out with another tie-breaker win in the B/C-1 category, effectively putting the previous defeat behind them.

The next clash of the day in the AL/BH-1 category on court two turned out to be another exciting classic and close game that saw both teams play very good back-and-forth tennis with the Top Spinners squad eventually surviving the Diplomats’ scare and winning the day. when the time came for both teams to present their players for the A/AL-1 category match, the Diplomats’’ pair failed to show up for the game resulting in Top Spinners being declared the winner of the fixture. The KWTSTEEL/Diplomat pair for the AL/BH-1 category played a great game to dominate the Top Spinners duo.
Top Spinners pair for the B/C-2 category played an outstanding game holding back the Diplomat’s pair in their scoring chances in the initial minutes of the encounter and eventually continued in their run to win the round, But the Diplomats in their characteristic fashion came from behind to snatch the win from the Top Spinners the next B/C-2 category game. However, in their determination to outplay their opponents, the Top Spinners squad made sure to take the battle to their opponents, playing aggressively to dominate the battle and took the three remaining matches.

The ladies L/L-1 saw the two sides engaged in a tit-for-tat close fight but the Top Spinners ladies edged out their Diplomat opponents in that category. In the C/C-2 category, the Top Spinners pair outplayed the Diplomat’s pair taking the win decisively. In another no-show for the Diplomat team’s duo in an L/L-2 category fixture match, Top Spinners were again declared winners. The A/AL-2 match was not played as the two teams had no available players for the fixture. The final score for the Top Spinners-KWTSTEEL/Diplomat encounter was 9-2 in favor of Top Spinners. That leaves Top Spinners sharing the top spot of the league table with KOC while KWTSTEEL/Diplomat lingers at the bottom.
The last big battle of the day saw the Steelers squad engaging Al-Yasra Food in clashes on court number four with the former dominating the latter five sets in a row to prove their supremacy.

The Steelers clinched the C/C-1 category clash and later went on to win the B/C-1 as well in the closely fought match. From then on THE Al-Yasra Food squad began to lose momentum, leaving the Steelers to take the B/B-1, A/AL-1 and AL/BH-1 category matches in a row with wide score margins.
Al Yasra team fought their way back into the game by subduing the Steelers pair in the B/C-2 category match, but the rally was short-lived as the next two matches A/AL-2 and the B/B-2 were again taken by the Steelers. Sensing humiliation at the final score, Al Yasra Food team fought back by taking the next three matches where Al Yasra Food team ladies bravely took the L/L-1 match but the C/C-2 match which proved quite a tight one was also eventually won by the Al Yasra team with the ladies L/L-2 category match also being awarded to the Al Yasra team, making the final score for that encounter 7-4 in Steelers favor. Steelers thus earned themselves the third spot on the league table after the good performance.
The next match day will be on Feb 3, 2012.