Doubles Team Keeps the Redreamption Alive
Qasden has been notoriously better at the singles events in NSTT tournaments than the doubles events, as all major achievements were reached by solo players, like DiGaldi and Poniac. However, as the qualifiers in Ethane come to a close, the near entirety of TQ seemed at high risk of elimination right then and there.
First up was Halaeo DiGaldi, our young and talented pearl, who had to play in Group A. Her first match pitted her against notable TQ Mercedinian Open rival, Stephen Perez, who seemed to know the match from the get-go. The Krytenian swept DiGaldi in straight sets, which wasn't highly unexpected at all. The real nerve game was against Fi Richardson of West Phoenicia, where, should Qasden lose, would result in her mathematical elimination. It was a hard fought battle, with DiGaldi narrowly taking it to a third set. Malheureusement, Fi took the opportunity to slam the exhausted Halaeo right then and there. She was now 0-2, basically screwed at this point. Her final match saw her play against Humberland's Daniel Pearce, who could potentially advance with a win. It was just as dramatically close as the match against Richardson. 3 sets, it took, to finish the match. Unlike her second match, she won this time around. Despite not being able to advance, she did eliminate Pearce from the competition, as well.
Another hopeful was Jaxton Monty, who we anticipated so much from following Mercedini. His first match was an obvious bust, as he was brutally beaten down by Judea's Ofra bat Dekel in the matter of just over an hour. Next came Estela Fenton-Millington from Eastfield Lodge, an opponent crucial to defeat. Luckily, he did take that game. In straight sets, too. Finally, it was the match against the host's own Alice Curson, the game to decide who will go on and who will go home. First set ended 1-6 Curson, then was followed with a 6-1 win for Monty. The final set ended 6-4 in favor of.....Alice. The Ethanian clinched the win away from Jaxton and was selected as a lucky loser to advance.
Oh shoot, our time's running out (weird for a news report, huh?). Alright, lightning round.
Ty Kanelious and Feyrord Poniac showed great displays of talent on day 1 with both securing wins over Jade Oreskovic and Prince Simon respectively. Day 2 saw them both lose out to Laura Roshik and Felice Mareaux respectively, putting both of them in a "win or go home" situation for match day 3 of the qualifiers. Kanelious took on West Phoenicia's Renee Richardson, the group leader, for a chance to surpass Roshik. Taking it to 3 sets, Ty was unfortunately defeated by Richardson, 4-6, ending his campaign in Lowes. As for Poniac, his match against Mercedini's power-player, Mei Jokek, wasn't all rainbows and cupcakes. Set 1 went to Feyrord, while Set 2 barely went to Mei. Set 3 ended much like the first, 6-3. However, the result owners had swapped, with Jokek taking the win over Poniac, just like that. Crazily enough, though, the Mercedinian was still under the lucky loser radar despite having 2 wins and a +2 PD. Oh well.
And now, for the first time in Qad Tennis history, all singles representatives have been eliminated in the qualifiers.
This is truly a travesty to the Qad name, but redemption is hard to achieve in this field. But we still have hope in Ethane left before we prepare for Savalen...the doubles teams. To start the two, Blair Forest and Donny Knight kicked things off good with a bye on day 1, great for more practice. Come day 2, however, and the pain roared in. Judea's Anat ben Yonah and Hadar ben Ofer needed a win against the Vans in order to win the group, so failure was not an option. As come gametime, it was pretty darn easy to tell that the Judeans were heavily determined on victory, which they indeed claimed. So now first place was out of reach, leaving just the potential lucky loser spot. For it, Forest and Knight played Peter McLeod and Anna Jones of Schottia. 3 sets are hard fought battle later, the Schottians finish on top, leaving a depressed Qad duo to pack their bags.
Things seemed grim for TQ, with our last gamble relying on Terry Rèben and Icy Mellows, whom had potentially lucked out by getting drawn into a group with debutants from Humberland and Natainians and Nosts. Unlike Blair and Donny, Terry and Icy actually had to play on day 1, against Humberland's Eric Parry and Phoenix Moore. With luck and strength on their side, they took the game by force, setting themselves up for potential success. Day 2 pitted the against Márcus and Mihai from N&N. The first 2 sets showed a 7-6 win for the newbies and a 6-0 obliteration commandeered by the Qads. However, the third set is what shocked fans the most, as Rèben and Mellows began slumping in their skills. While winning 4 games, the duo from Natainians and Nosts ended what would be our last hope. While it seemed like inevitable defeat, Terry and Icy had one card left to play, being the gamble of day 3, the group's match between Humberland's Parry and Moore and N&N's Márcus and Mihai. Surprisingly enough, Humberland upset N&N in 3 sets, putting all 3 duos in the group at a 1-1 deadlock. After minutes of anticipation and worry.....we were saved. Rèben and Mellows were declared the group winners, and will progress as the only Qad representatives left.
This marks the first time in Qad Tennis history that someone from the doubles event had progressed further than everyone in the singles event. Somehow seeded as #6 (even though there were lower seeds with perfect records), the last Qads in Lowes will have a great challenge to surmount. Their opponents are the 11th-seeded Samuel Gates and Greg Meares of Electrum, whom topped their group in straight sets against both opponents. They will truly be some of the toughest foes Qad doubles tennis will face this tour.
That's all for this report. Can Terry and Icy usurp victory from the easily predicted winners, Samuel and Greg? Or will most bets be right as the Rushmori duo tackle the last of the Vans before Magr? Only way to find out is with popcorn and a drink, so stay hungry, stay thirsty, and stay delicious for our first report of the proper, right here in Lowes, Ethane!
