It was a tough UAAP season for the Green and Lady Paddlers last year. The Green Paddlers settled for fifth place after failing to enter the Final Four for the second year in a row, while the Lady Paddlers failed to defend their UAAP crown—a crown they held for four straight years—and concluded the season as first runners-up.
With the UAAP Season 82 Table Tennis Tournament set to begin in November, The LaSallian meets with head coach Lauro Crisostomo as well as both squads’ respective team captains and co-captains to catch a glimpse of what the Green and Lady Paddlers have in store for the upcoming competition.
Adjustments and acquisitions
Following a disheartening season for the Green-and-White, Crisostomo decided to revise their training regimen by increasing the number of training sessions. Crisostomo explains the reason behind the additional training sessions this season, “Yung iba na [skillswise] medyo mataas na, pero pagdating sa competition, minsan yung maturity mababa.”
(Most of my players are great with regards to skill, but when it comes to competing in tournaments, they sometimes lack maturity.)
Crisostomo shares that UAAP Season 81 Rookie of the Year Jannah Romero and UAAP Season 80 Most Valuable Player Emy Dael will not be participating in this year’s tournament, as both players will be representing the Philippines in the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from December 6 to 10. To compensate for the vacancies, incoming rookies Crystal Canoos, Jasmine Tan, and Rein Teodoro are tasked to fill the void left by Romero and Dael.
Meanwhile, the Green Paddlers acquired Koby Cabrido, the brother of team captain Tarak Cabrido. “Expectation ko naman sa kaniya, makatulong siya sa singles event para lalo kaming lumakas,” Crisostomo shares.
(I expect him to help us out in the singles event so that the team becomes even stronger.)
Bouncing back with the odds stacked against them
After failing to achieve a five-peat at the hands of the UST Golden Tigresses, the Lady Paddlers hope to bounce back in Season 82 with renewed spirits. Team captain Chantal Alberto and co-captain Caressha Bernaldez intend on proving to the league that DLSU is not on the decline.
The team from Taft is focused on remaining a title contender despite the loss of two key veterans, who are also national team players. When asked about their primary goal for this season, Alberto explains that they want “to prove everyone wrong. Just because we don’t have our two national team players [does not mean] we won’t make it to the Final Four.”
With more pressure now placed on the less experienced players to step up given the absence of star veterans, Alberto emphasizes, “We’re taking it one step at a time, one day at a time…Hopefully, we as the captains can do our best as well to support them and give them whatever they need to play to the very best of their ability.”
Co-captain Bernaldez similarly advocates a gradual and progressive approach, and expects the team to remain a cohesive unit throughout the season. She explains, “Daan daan talaga dito sa butas ng karayom pero…yung camaraderie ng team namin siguro nakahatak din iyon. Step by step lang kahit mahirap.”
(The process has been as challenging as passing a thread through the eye of a needle, but our camaraderie has kept us going. Even if it’s difficult, we’ll get through it step by step.)
With key players missing this year’s tournament, the emphasis on team camaraderie is even more crucial—DLSU has to maintain a united front amid the rising competition.
As the leaders of the Lady Paddlers, Alberto and Bernaldez prioritize setting an example to their team, especially with younger players donning the Green-and-White. “I want them to play with heart,” Alberto expresses, reminding her team to keep “[playing] with a heart of a champion, but with the mentality of an underdog.”
On the road to redemption
After a difficult Season 81, the Green Paddlers have their sights set on a comeback for the season ahead, banking on their productive training camp in their bid for gold in this year’s competition.
Disappointed with their performance last season, the Green Paddlers looked to regroup right away. Co-captain Daniel Ocon shares that they poured all they could into preparing for this season, as they felt the need for massive improvement, “Sobrang aga kami bumalik ng training—since November [of] last year, [bumalik] na kami agad. Ginawa ni coach, mas naging strict siya sa training…ganun talaga naman dapat. Masaya naman kami na ginawa niya yun, para sa amin yun.”
(We returned to training very early, coming back to it since November of last year. Our coach became more strict during training, which is how it should be. We were happy that he chose to do that as it was for the benefit of the team.)
The Lasallians have high goals as both Cabrido and Ocon agree that success this season means winning the championship. Ocon affirms that mindset saying, “Siyempre, isa lang talaga yung goal, yung main goal is magka [championship] talaga sa UAAP. Yun yung team goal.”
(Of course there’s really only one goal. The main goal is to become champions in the UAAP; that really is the team goal.)
For Cabrido, his team must take things one step at a time to claim the elusive championship, “Para sa akin, yung unang goal namin is Final Four talaga, and pagpasok namin sa Final Four, ang next goal namin ay yung finals. Last goal, siyempre pag dating sa finals, nandoon ka na, eh di championship na.”
(The first goal is to reach the Final Four, and once we are there, the goal becomes getting to the finals. When we reach the finals, the last goal is the championship.)
On his last playing year, Ocon expects that the Green-and-White will leave no stone unturned this season, “Sa mga teammates ko, I expect them to play with their [hearts]. Every game, gusto ko makita na binubuhos talaga nila lahat…na kada puntos talagang pinaghirapan—every point counts,” Ocon elaborates his expectations for both his team and for himself. “Sa akin naman, I expect na malabas ko ang laro ko, tapos [makapag-exit] ng maganda sa team dahil last playing year ko na ‘to. Kada laban, kada puntos, gagawin ko talaga lahat para manalo.”
(For my teammates, I expect them to play with their [hearts]. I want to see them dedicating their all in every game and working hard to score each point because every point counts. For myself, I expect to play at my best and leave the team on a high note as this is my last playing year. In every match and for every point, I will do everything to win.)
As pre-season comes to a close, both the Lady Paddlers and the Green Paddlers feel ready and confident for the season ahead. With their passion and hard work coming to fruition, optimism surrounds both teams as they believe that this could be the year that they win their respective championships. Both squads will kick-off their respective campaigns on November 9 at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym.
