The DLSU Green and Lady Shuttlers misfired their shuttlecocks in the UAAP Season 89 Men’s and Women’s Badminton tournament after falling to the smashes of the ADMU Blue Eagles and the UP Fighting Maroons, respectively, earlier today, October 20, at the Gameville Central Park.
The Green Shuttlers had a humbling experience against rivals Blue Eagles, losing the tie 4-1. AJ Jurada and Rey Dalimo-os brought up the Green-and-White in the second doubles match as they won to claim DLSU’s lone point.
Meanwhile, the Lady Shuttlers could not smash their rackets on target, bowing out of the day with a sweep at the hands of the Fighting Maroons, 5-0, in both their singles and doubles matches.
Lone wolf
To start off the day, Lovic Javier squared off against Lance Vargas in the first singles match, but was unable to claim La Salle’s first victory of the tie, falling in straight games 2-0.
The next singles pitted La Salle’s Gift Linaban against ADMU’s Wijel Albo. With brilliant footwork and frontcourt coverage, Linaban raced to an early lead uncontested. However, Albo adjusted, shifting the momentum to take the opening game 21-13. Linaban rebounded in the second game and breezed through it, hitting accurate direct smashes and controlling the pace, putting Albo off-balance. Linaban dominated 21-9, marking the largest score differential of the entire tie. Linaban brought this form into the deciding game, and after a tight back-and-forth battle with the Blue Eagles, Albo adapted and countered effectively in late-game rallies to edge out the third game 21-19, taking the match 2-1.
In the first doubles match, Jurada and Dalimo-os suited up against ADMU. Relying on the rotation strategy of Jurada as the primary backcourt attacker and Dalimo-os anchoring the defense, a deadly combination of crisp overhead smashes with full-court defensive coverage won them the first game 21-16. However, the Katipunan-based squad was able to effectively counter the duo by targeting Jurada with shots closer to the net and adjusting precision on the defensive seams, leading to errors from DLSU as the Blue Eagles completed a reverse sweep to win the last two sets, 21-16 and 21-18, to win the first doubles match, 2-1.
Looking to keep DLSU in the contest in the second doubles match, Karl Contreras and Zaki Layno started, but lost the first set against the Blue Eagles, 21-14, after ADMU’s sharp placement shots between the seams. In the second set, Contreras and Layno flipped a switch, strategically targeting the four corners of the court and introducing deceptive pace changes. As Contreras stayed at the forefront, attacking aggressively with Layno offering strong coverage right behind him, the tandem closed out the final two games in commanding fashion, 21-13 and 21-14, to secure the Green-and-White’s first match point of the day.
Heading into the final singles match, Joshua Cuarte took the court against Zeth Quiambao, hoping to secure one last match point. Cuarte used a combination of clever drop shots and direct down-the-line smashes, keeping the early rally contest close at 12-9 to ADMU, but fell short on defense against Quiambao’s relentless baseline pressure, which let him pull away and win the first set 21-13. Going into the second set, Cuarte had to overcome a slow start after Quiambao took early control of the court, leading 11-4 before a mid-game interval from the Shuttlers. After the break, a re-composed Cuarte rallied with precise drop placements and towering overhead clears, eventually pulling within one point after controlling the tempo of the game. Facing a late surge, Quiambao stabilized and responded with defensive high clears to regain his footing and capitalize on Cuarte’s mistakes, sealing the tight final game, 21-18, completing a 2-0 match sweep for the Blue Eagles.
Clean sweep
Heading into the women’s frame were Lady Shuttler Erin Vitangcol and UP captain Susmita Ramos. Despite the drowning cheers of the Maroons’ pep squad, Vitangcol held her ground early against the Katipunan stalwart. The Green-and-White defense was swiftly tested as the maroon shirt targeted her positioning. Vitangcol’s early tug was left in the dust as DLSU trailed 11-5 heading into the technical break. She would only tally three more points as the Fighting Maroons claimed the first set, 21-8. Ramos further rode her momentum, stacking smash after smash on the Taft-based squad’s court. Although Vitangcol made a scoring run to cut it to 15-11, Diliman took the second set on an uncontested run, 21-11, taking the first game 2-0.
Lady Tuario stepped into the fray for the second singles match against maroon-shirt Patricia De Leon. The Katipunan offense relied on long-range volleys that wore down the Lady Shuttler’s defense, exposing gaps as Tuario took more steps to chase the shuttlecock. Despite early resistance, La Salle found themselves behind, 11-4. With a sizable lead, the Katipunan-based squad took off and never looked back, shifting to a more defensive style, countering Green-and-White smashes to take the first set, 21-11. Tuario tightened her racket heading into the second, trading blows with the Fighting Maroon as she trailed 11-7. Despite an offensive spark with smashes and opponent errors, UP took the second set and the game, 21-14 and 2-0, respectively.
Kicking off the first doubles was Ma. Army Espe and Venice Salapong for the Lady Shuttlers against UP’s Anthea Gonzales and Jacinda Marchan. The Green-and-White defense was instantly tested as the Fighting Maroons redirected the shuttlecock toward different ends of the court, hampering the front, back, and sidelines. Espe and Salapong caught up early, trailing two, 7-5, but were backed down to 11-6. Although some smashes and strikes hit the target, the Taft-based squad gave up the first set 21-11. The second seemed like a different story, however, as Espe and Salapong anchored their positioning to maintain a foothold in the battle of attrition, deadlocking at 6-all, before heading into the technical break within striking distance, 11-9. Although the gates seemingly opened before their rackets, UP shut the door on them, putting the pedal on the gas to escape with a 21-14 win, 2-0.
Stepping in for the second doubles game were La Salle’s Athena Villanueva and Ghiselle Bautista against Fighting Maroons Kimberly Lao and Krissa De Leon. This game was swift and decisive, with each racket striking in a flash. Although DLSU made several scoring stints with volleys and smashes, the Katipunan-based squad’s lightning-quick offense stunned them with a 2-0 sweep in both sets.
To end the day, DLSU’s Kim Lagare faced maroon-shirt Brys Fuggan in the third singles match, instantly shocking the Katipunan-based squad with a 3-0 lead. The two went back and forth until the 6-all mark, at which point the Fighting Maroons gained the upper hand with an uncontested five-nil scoring run to head into the break, putting DLSU at a disadvantage, 11-6. The point was the last line written in the Lady Shuttler’s story, as UP took the game away and never looked back to take the first set, 21-6. Heading into the second set, Lagare held on, this time trading smashes and taking an 11-9 lead going into the break. She continued to blow the lid open with her positioning, sending the maroon crowd into a nervous echo, deadlocking at 17-all. However, fate struck the same nerve yet again, as Fuggan put the game away at 21-18, taking the game 2-0 and dealing the Lady Shuttlers their fifth loss of the day.
The DLSU Green and Lady Shuttlers look to stamp wins on their columns to end their campaign week as they face off against the UST Growling and Golden Tigresses on Saturday, October 24, at 8 am and 1 pm respectively, at the same venue.