Ailing Mamiit seals RP’s Davis Cup win over Kuwait

KUWAIT CITY – Cecil Mamiit rose from his hospital bed and teamed up with fellow Fil-American Eric Taino to power the Philippines past Kuwait in the doubles and complete a sweep of their Asia-Oceania Zone Group II Davis Cup finals here Saturday.

Mamiit, barely recovered from his bout with allergy after his Friday singles match, provided the spark and confidence that rubbed off on Taino as the pair hammered out a 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 decision over Mohammad Al-Ghareeb and Mohammad Siddiq for the Philippines’ third point in the best-of-five matches tie.

Earlier Friday, Mamiit trounced Ahmad Rabeea Muhammad, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0, and Taino dumped Al Ghareeb, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6.

The doubles win rendered Sunday’s reverse singles as “dead matches.”

“It was the best show of courage I have seen. Cecil refused just to lie down on his bed and do nothing. He was really the spark of this team,” non-playing captain Martin Misa said.

Mamiit, after Friday’s dinner, experienced nausea and difficulty in breathing and  was rushed to the nearby New Dor Al Shifa hospital where he was diagnosed to have contracted allergy from “toxic substance.” He was given a shot of an antihistamine, given Telfast tablets and was advised to take a rest for at least three days.

“After consultation with coach Chris (Cuarto), I was about to retain Patrick (PJ Tierro) and Johnny (Arcilla) for the crucial doubles. But Cecil came into  the room and said he is ready to play, and that was it,” said Misa.

The victory, however, did not come easy as Mamiit and Taino had a  sluggish start and had their rhythm going into a roller-coaster drive.

But every time their play seemed to be going down, the big Filipino crowd, shepherded into the gallery by members of the Filipino Tennis Association in Kuwait (FTAK), gave the Fil-Americans the inspiration and resolve to do better.

With the Filipinos waving the national tricolors and chanting “Let’s go, Philippines, let’s go” and the famous “Boom Tarat-tarat” jingle,  Mamiit and Taino plodded on to humiliate the hosts and push the Philippines back into its former seat in the elite Group I of the zone.

“The Filipinos here served as the greatest inspiration to us. Thank you all and we know that you will not stop in supporting any Filipino team that will come into Kuwait,” Cuarto told the FTAK members, led by its president Tony Dezeda, during an instant victory party hosted by the US Embassy’s consul general here – Fil-American Sonny Busa from Samar.