Green Shuttlers remain in second, Lady Shuttlers clinch third place

The DLSU Green Shuttlers clinched second place in the UAAP Season 78 Badminton Tournament for the second consecutive year after failing to overcome the NU Bulldogs in the finals. On the other hand, the Lady Shuttlers slid to third place after losing to the Ateneo Lady Eagles despite holding a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals.

La Salle started strong in the men’s division, as they opened the season with wins over the UP Fighting Maroons, the FEU Tamaraws, and Final Four opponent Ateneo. Struggling only against NU, DLSU remained as one of the top teams in the standings, ensuring themselves a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.

Against Ateneo, the Green Shuttlers relied on the efforts of Kenneth Monterubio, Anton Cayanan, and Gerald Sibayan to advance to the finals after dispatching the Blue Eagles in three matches. Monterubio and Cayanan surrendered only one game, while Sibayan and Cayanan swept their doubles opponents to clinch the finals berth for DLSU.

The Green Shuttlers could not build off their momentum as they struggled against NU in the finals. They were swept in Game 1, with only Monterubio winning a game against NU’s Keeyan Gabuelo. Game 2 began in the same way, but DLSU salvaged one match before falling in four games, 3-1, retaining their second-place finish for the second straight year.

The Lady Shuttlers shared the same fate as their male counterparts in the elimination round of the tournament, as they carried the second-best record in the league with a 6-1 win-loss record. Racing to quick wins over the likes of Ateneo and NU, La Salle suffered their only loss against the UP Lady Maroons, who pulled out a 3-2 win over DLSU. After the setback, the Lady Shuttlers clinched four more wins over UST (3-2), UE (5-0), AdU (5-0), and FEU (4-1) to secure the second spot and the twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.

Entering the Final Four, the Lady Shuttlers were confident that they could advance to the finals given that they beat ADMU after outlasting them in the preliminaries. However, their previous encounter turned out to be a thing of the past as the Lady Eagles clinched consecutive 3-1 victories over DLSU, erasing the advantage La Salle had and advancing to the finals, where they were swept by UP.

In terms of the GC race, both teams gave DLSU a sizable cushion, as their combined 22 points nearly doubled the 12 that both of UST’s teams contributed with their fifth-place finishes in their respective divisions.