The weekend blasted off greatly at the Jumpsmash Badminton Courts in Quezon City as the DLSU Lady Shuttlers capitalized on both of their tournament matches last September 14 and 15 against the UE Red Warriors and the UP Fighting Maroons respectively.
On the other side of the court however, mixed results came about for the Green Shuttlers’ tournament run as they could not find the finishing blows needed to subdue UP despite winning their match-up against Far Eastern University the day before.
Highs and lows
The matchup of the DLSU Green shuttlers against FEU last September 14 went down to the last match as La Salle went home with the winning slate of 3-2. Green Shuttler Virgel Allen Del Mundo fell early at the start of the singles matchup against FEU’s Michel Kevin Cudiamat, 12-21 and 16-21. Gerald Sibayan quickly avenged his teammate’s loss as he gave a swift defeat to his opponent Josh Mark Maquelabit, winning 21-10 and 21-15 respectively.
The same results were garnered at the start of the double matches as the pair of Gerald Sibayan and Carlos Antonie Cayanan proved to be more dominant than FEU’s Ian Bautista and Shadrach Niko Saquin, giving them a clean sweep of 21-14 and 21-13. However, FEU instantly evened the scoring as Tamaraws Michel Kevin Cudlamat and Christian Mendez pushed a classic three set match-up against La Salle’s Prince Joshua Menterubio and Jerickson Obaob, 15-21, 23-21, and 16-21.
A win for the Green Shuttlers was now in the hands of Elijah Abdel Boac and he did not disappoint. Boac forced a speedy sweep against FEU’s Randolph Balatbat, 21-16 and 21-13 to garner the victory for La Salle. The flow of momentum rapidly changed as the Green Shuttlers squared off with UP the next day and fell in a close match-up, 3-2.
Gerald Sibayan started the battle by maintaining a close trail behind UP’s Jon Masongsong in the first set, but despite the valiant effort, the UP-based shuttler eventually pulled a string of points in the second set leading to a 24-26, 11-21 loss for La Salle. La Salle’s Del Mundo then fell as the second casualty to the Fighting Maroons after Lorenzo Leonardo sealed the game with an 11-21 and 18-21 scorecard in the second singles of the match.
The pair of Cayanan and Sibayan rallied a late charge for the Green-and-White after defeating the duo of Karl Foronda and Ethan Malelang in the first doubles with a score of 21-19 and 21-15. Despite the push from the first doubles, the second doubles became the undoing of the Green Shuttlers as Monterubio and Obaob were unable to capitalize on the momentum shift after Leonardo and Masongsong delivered the final blow to win the game with scores of 14-21 and 18-21 in favor of UP.
In an effort to improve the team’s overall standing, Boac scored in the third singles and gained the upper hand against Carl Clemente with scores of 21-14 and 21-18.
Back to back wins
The Lady Shuttlers, with their backs against the wall, pulled off a swift match last September 14 and took a 4-1 win against University of the East. Danica San Ignacio started the attack for the Lady Shuttlers as she completed a sweep against UE’s Kimberly Gatpolintan, 21-15 and 21-8, at the start of the match. Rochelle Andres quickly retaliated, forcing a three-set match against La Salle’s Danica Bolos, 24-22, 13-21, and 11-21.
The Lady Shuttlers were a force in the doubles match-ups against UE as Kristelle Dawn Salatan and Aires Amor Montilla swept UE’s Diane Ferdienca Castro and Lyra Rosal with a score of 21-13 and 21-14. Danica Bolos and and Angelic Pauline Ramos also completed a sweep as they went up against Rochelle Andres and May Pamorada, earning La Salle a 21-12 and 21-15 victory. Though she suffered a loss in the end, Angelic Pauline Ramos managed to lengthen the matchup in a classic three-setter against May Pamorada, 15-21, 21-13, and 14-21.
The preceding day of the tournament was no different from the last as the Lady Shuttlers kept their wins coming by achieving another near sweep against the University of the Philippines with a 4-1 victory. Team captain San Ignacio drew first blood and led the team’s charge as she defeated Pauline Tan in the first singles of the match to win with scores of 21-18 and 21-9.
The match-up however was tied when Bolos was dealt with a loss brought about by UP’s Elisha Onguanco as the match ended with scores of 12-21 and 23-25 for the second singles of the game. Regaining the lead was a product of the collective efforts of Salatan and Montilla after they won the first doubles against Tan and Paola Bernardo with scores of 21-11 and 21-14.
While the second doubles haunted her record, Bolos together with Ramos scored big as the pair shut the game down for UP after countering Abegail Garcia and Mitzel Buiza to score wins of 21-12 and 21-15. With a doubles win behind her back, Ramos kept the steam going in a hard fought three set match-up as Bernardo fell to a score of 21-14, 12-21 and 21-14.
