UAAP: Paddlers dominate competition after round one

The DLSU Paddlers established themselves as the teams to beat after leading the pack in the first week of competition. As the defending champions, the Green Paddlers continued to show their winning form from last season as they only gave up a single point to their opponents. The Lady Paddlers meanwhile fell to last year’s champion UP yet still remain on top of this year’s standings in a three-way tie with UP and FEU.

“Pipilitin naming mag double champion,” head coach Lauro Crisostomo said. “Kasi last year yung sa women’s team dapat double champion kami [pero natalo kami kahit] thrice to beat kaya sayang.”

The Green Paddlers opened their tournament against UE and NU and dominated both teams 3-0. Walden Ledesma and Francis Garaganian won their matches 3-0 and 3-1 respectively heading into a tough matchup against a gritty UST team. It would be their final and toughest match of the day as they finished them off 3-1, to end the first day unscathed.

The second day proved to be an easier one from the Taft-based paddlers as they swept all their games against UP, Ateneo, and last year’s finalist, FEU, 3-0 each. Ledesma, Jet Yatco, Cristobal, Yu, and Garganian did not let up despite playing six games in two days and led their team to a better finish in the second day.

It was an almost flawless weekend for the Lady Paddlers as they exited the first round with five wins and only one loss. They practically breezed through their first day by sweeping both Adamson and FEU without dropping a single game. This was brought about by the stellar performances from Lariba and Gamilla.

Their second day started with another sweep against Ateneo but it went sour almost instantly as they experienced their first loss at the hands of their rivals last season, UP. In their matchup against the defending champs, they lost three games to one. Despite this, they were able to bounce back against UST, whom they beat 3-1. To top it off, they ended the weekend on a high note by sweeping NU, 3-0.

Entering the first round, Crisostomo, wanted nothing less than 100 percent from his players. “Sinabi ko sa mga bata na ibigay ang 100 percent at tsaka gawin nila ang pinagpractisan namin at magstick sa gameplan na araw-araw na pinagpractisan namin para talunin namin ang mga kalaban,” he said.

He also mentions that there are still some minor adjustments that need to be made for their matches next weekend. “Sa men’s team, … kaunting pagbabago lang siguro kagaya ng mga error namin sa mga skills nila ganun. Sa women’s team, siguro ang pagbabago namin ay magfocus kami sa doubles,” says Crisostomo.

Will the streak continue? Or will there be surprises in store for the Green and Lady Paddlers? Second round games shall commence next weekend, September 20 and 21, in the Blue Eagle Gym starting at 8 am.