Last Friday, October 4, at the Centro Atletico Badminton Court in Quezon City, the DLSU Green Shuttlers emerged victorious in a close five team-tie game, 3-2, against the UP Fighting Maroons to finish their season at third place overall. The DLSU Lady Shuttlers, on the other hand, succumbed to defending champions ADMU Lady Eagles in a five nail-biting team-tie game, 3-2. They now trail in the finals series, 1-0.
Green Shutters finish third place
The first singles match of the contest pitted La Salle’s captain Emilio Mangubat Jr against UP’s John Bernardo. The Fighting Maroons claimed the first game, 21-18, following a late 9-1 rally by J. Bernardo when he was down, 17-12. The succeeding game saw Mangubat Jr get outplayed by J. Bernardo, surrendering the game, 21-3, and giving UP a 1-0 match advantage over the Green-and-White.
In the next match, Green Shuttler Christian Bernardo played against Fighting Maroon Kyle Legaspi. C. Bernardo conceded the first game, 21-18, but was able to bounce back with a 21-19 victory over Legaspi in the second game. DLSU held the lead throughout the third game but toward the end of the game, UP attempted to mount a comeback and reduced the deficit to just three, 19-16. However, Bernardo maintained his composure to close out the game, 21-16, to even the tie at 1-all.
The third match had DLSU’s Mangubat Jr and C. Bernardo battle against UP’s J. Bernardo and Dean Tungul. Unfazed, the Green-and-White kept the game close. With the second game in favor of the Green Shuttlers, 17-16, the Fighting Maroons flipped the switch and finished the game on a 5-1 run, 21-17, which gave the Diliman-based squad a 2-1 match edge over the Taft-based squad.
With their backs against the wall, Green Shuttlers Andrew Pineda and Eljee Gavil played with a sense of urgency against Fighting Maroons Vincent Manuel and Jason Vanzuela. Game one was close during its early stages. With UP leading by a point, 11-10, the Green-and-White went on an 11-2 run to take the first game from the Fighting Maroons, 21-12. Utilizing the momentum they received and overcoming Manuel and Vanzuela’s best efforts to hold them off, Pineda and Gavil took the second game, 21-17, and forced a fifth match, 2-2.
The deciding team-tie match resumed to singles and had Pineda represent the Green-and-White to duel with Fighting Maroon Justin Tercias. The first game ended in favor of the Green Shuttlers following a 21-17 victory by Pineda. La Salle completely dominated the second game, 21-6, to claim the bronze finish.
After the game, head coach Owen Lopez praised the Green Shuttlers for improving from last year’s fourth place finish. “Proud kami kasi kahit papaano naman pinaghirapan namin ‘yun eh,” he added.
(We’re proud of the result because we worked hard for it.)
Lady Shuttlers fall short
In the first team-tie match, Lady Shuttlers’ team captain Iyah Sevilla faced off against Lady Eagle Chanelle Lunod. Sevilla grabbed the first match point for DLSU after beating Lunod in the two consecutive games, 22-20, 21-17.
Ateneo evened the match at 1-all following a 2-1 victory that was secured by Mikaela De Guzman over La Salle’s Kanna Baba. Baba won the first game, 21-18, but was unable to hold off De Guzman’s comeback, 21-15, 21-15.
The Lady Shuttlers also dropped the third match to the Lady Eagles as the DLSU duo of Palma Cruz and Shaynne Boloron lost to ADMU’s Lunod and Joella De Vera in two games, 21-13, 21-19. This gave the team from Katipunan a 2-1 team-tie advantage heading into the fourth match and were a win away from securing game one of the finals.
La Salle managed to push the team-tie series to one more match after Sevilla and Baba defeated Lady Eagles De Guzman and Samantha Ramos in three games, 21-11, 17-21, 21-18.
In the end, however, the Green-and-White suffered a setback in their bid to dethrone the defending champions. Showcasing championship form, ADMU’s De Vera earned her side the decisive match after two games versus Mia Manguiliotan, 21-18, 21-14. .
Despite the tough loss, head coach Lopez commended the Lady Shuttlers’ efforts, disclosing that he frequently encourages his players by saying, “Enjoy the game, [there is] nothing to lose”. He also pointed out, “It’s still a good achievement na [nag-finals] kami ulit…Malaking bagay ‘yun (facing an undefeated team) kasi nung nakaraan [5-0] nila kami.”
(It’s still a good achievement that the Lady Shuttlers reached the finals again. The pressure of facing an undefeated team in Ateneo was a big factor since they defeated us, 5-0, last time.)
The Lady Shutters will look to recover from the loss and equalize the series against the Lady Eagles later today, at 1 pm, at the Camp Crame Badminton Court in Quezon City.
