UAAP: Lady Shuttlers begin season with 1-1 record

It was a bittersweet weekend for the DLSU Lady Shuttlers as they exited opening weekend of the UAAP Season 77 Badminton tournament with a 1-1 record. What started as a disappointing weekend for the Lady Shuttlers ended with their spirits revitalized as they were able to recover from their opening game loss against the FEU Lady Tamaraws by dominating the UE Red Warriors on Sunday, August 10. The Lady Shuttlers lost to FEU with a score of 3-2, but they won against the Lady Warriors by trouncing them 4-1.

First game blues

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Lady Shuttlers as they struggled against FEU in their matchup last Saturday. Unfortunately, the Lady Shuttlers incurred their first loss of the season against the Lady Tamaraws in a close battle where they lost 3-2. In spite of this, there were some notable performances from some of the Lady Shuttlers.

The performances that are part of the list were the individual performance of Danica San Ignacio and the team performance of Alyssa Leonardo and Alrea Montilla, who were responsible for the two wins of the Lady Shuttlers. On the other hand, it was the impressive performance of FEU’s Marie Pomar and Hannah Tudtud which gave the Lady Tamaraw’s the 3-2 victory over the Lady Shuttlers last Saturday. Both of them won each of their singles matches as well as their doubles match.

To start off their matchup, DLSU’s Danica San Ignacio battles FEU’s Michal Duquilla and takes first the match. San Ignacio won the game in three sets with the scores: 21-13, 16-21 and 21-13.

However, FEU’s Marie Pomar answers back with a win of her own against DLSU’s Danica Peligrino. Pomar won it in two sets(21-19, 21-12) to tie the score at one win each.

In the third match, the team Leonardo and Montilla returned the favor by winning their match and giving the Lady Shuttlers a one win advantage, 2-1. They were able to gain the upper hand against the team of FEU’s Duquilla and Rivera by beating them in a grueling three-set victory with the scores: 21-15, 17-21, and 21-14.

In spite of this, FEU’s Pomar and Tudtud manage to tie the game once again at 2-2 by beating the team of DLSU’s Kristelle Salatan and San Ignacio in three sets with the scores: 17-21, 21-11, and 21-15. With both teams tied at two wins each, they entered the fifth and final match with a chance to win the series.

The last match-up featured DLSU’s Camille Gotohio and FEU’s Hannah Tudtud. After three sets, Tudtud won the game and the series by beating Gotohio with the scores: 14-21, 21-18, and 21-8.

According to the Lady Shuttlers’ head coach, Owen Lopez, their focus was on their doubles match against the Lady Tamaraws. “Ang target talaga namin is makuha yung doubles,” says coach Owen Lopez after the match. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out to go as planned for them as they only won one of two of the doubles matches against FEU

Day two: Bounce back

Following a defeat from their match against FEU, the Lady Shuttlers were able to come back with a 4-1 win against UE last Sunday. Danica San Ignacio had a close fight with UE’s Rochelle Andres as they rallied it out in a three-set match with Andres emerging as the winner. However, UE was unable to maintain their momentum as DLSU took all four matches after. With this win, they improved their record to 1-1.

After the performance of the Lady Shuttlers last weekend, coach Lopez seemed satisfied. He expressed that there are just a few minor adjustments and problems to address for the upcoming matches. “Kailangan namingmag-adjust dun sa pairing, especially dun sa doubles partner,” says coach Lopez. Another thing they will have to address is their problem in consistency in their performance as expressed by coach Lopez. “Consistency. Ever since, ’yun lang yung nagiging problema namin,” the coach stated.

“Pero lahat ’yan mag-aadjustkasi… nakitana nila yung players na kalaban nila, nakitana nila yung teams…so adjustment lang,” says coach Lopez being optimistic about his team will play in their upcoming matches. Catch the DLSU Lady Shuttlers’ on their upcoming game on Wednesday, August 13 in the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex at 1 pm as they face the UP Fighting Maroons.