The DLSU Green and Lady Shuttlers came out of their respective UAAP Season 89 Men’s and Women’s Badminton Tournaments with mixed outcomes earlier today, October 21, at the Gameville Central Park.
The Green Shuttlers shaved off their stint with a close win, coming out of the fray with a 3-2 win after a game-clinching win in their third singles match against the UP Fighting Maroons.
Meanwhile, the Lady Shuttlers have yet to find their smashes on target, still on the hunt for their maiden win after succumbing to another 5-0 sweep, this time to the AdU Soaring Falcons.
Close getaway
The first match was heavily contested, as Green Shuttler Gift Linaban clashed with UP team captain Shan Clar in the opening frame. Both were highly reactive, being able to reposition themselves for counters. Although DLSU stayed within striking distance, trailing 13-11, the Fighting Maroon stalwart blew past the green-shirt, winning 21-16 in the first set. The second, however, saw Linaban claim an early 5-2 lead off service possessions and opponent errors. After leading 11-8 early, Linaban stacked smashes in his offense to deadlock with his own set win, 21-18. Linaban aimed to put the pedal to the metal, charging out with a 4-1 lead in the deciding set; however, a crucial Katipunan scoring run shattered hope, as Clar dashed away with the victory using positioning and counters, 21-15, to take the first game 2-1.
The second singles match had the reigning Season 88 rookie of the year Lovic Javier against UP’s Mohammad Amerodin. Proving his title, after suffering a 15-9 deficit in the first set, Javier locked into a flow state with smashes, flicks, and rallies that bombarded the Fighting Maroon, mounting a come-from-behind victory at 21-19. With the Katipunan spirit shattered, Javier unleashed his offensive arsenal and positioning to catapult to a blowout 21-10 win in the second set, deadlocking the standings at 1-all.
Rey Dalimo-os and AJ Jurada took the floor for the Green Shuttlers against UP’s Kian Cruz and Joshua Martinez for the first doubles of the day. The affair tightened in the early frame, as both squads traded blows, 10-all. What seemed to be daylight for both teams as they inched towards the finish line ended in a reversal for La Salle, as they took a 21-18 loss in the first set. The next set told a similar tale, with deadlocks left and right. However, DLSU found the breakaway late, taking a sizable 16-12 lead. Although the game reached the pivotal 18-all point again, the Green-and-White made sure to smash on target, taking a 21-19 win to force a deciding third set. Dalimo-os and Jurada locked in, anchoring the front and back and adapting their positioning to the opponent’s reads; this earned them their hard-fought 21-17 win, strengthening the Taft-based squad’s standings to 2-1.
Karl Contreras and Zaki Layno headed the second doubles match against UP’s Arjay Lazareto and Ryan Mendoza. The Green Shuttlers found themselves gripping for the seams with the Fighting Maroons outclassing their offense at 12-6. Lazareto and Mendoza’s smashes were too much to handle as the Green Shuttlers bowed out of the first set 21-9. Heading into the second set was a more valiant effort with better defensive positioning. Although they closed within striking distance at 15-7, the Katipunan-based squad left them in the dust, 21-14, and tied the standings at 2-all.
With their backs against the wall, fighting for a Final Four berth, Green Shuttler Joshua Cuarte stepped in for the deciding game against Fighting Maroon Ethan Dupet. The Green-and-White found a balanced battle in the last singles, with unforced errors and rough rallies finding both squads’ rackets. However, Cuarte, with superior positioning and backhand flicks, ballooned the lead to 18-15. Although Dupet made an eager response at 19-all, Cuarte took two uncontested points to take the first set 21-19. Heading into the do-or-die set, Cuarte fell early with a 9-7 deficit, but the smashes shifted to another gear, ballooning his lead to 17-11 and eventually ending it 21-16, and taking a win for this day, 3-2.
Runaway win
The women’s tie opened with a spirited singles clash, where La Salle’s Ghiselle Bautista pushed AdU Captain Abby Barcelona to three tight games. While the first game was kept close at the mid-game interval, 10-7, a back-and-forth battle ensued between the two, and a combination of excellent shot placement and defense let Bautista convert the opening game 21-19, winning the only game for the Green-and-White of the day. Barcelona, however, responded with a reverse sweep of the remaining games in dominating fashion, 21-13 and 21-9, as the Soaring Falcons’ claimed their first match point of the day.
In the second singles matchup, Lady Tuario of the Green-and-White looked to improve DLSU’s standing, bringing consistent defensive coverage but ultimately falling short against AdU’s Rosheila Quierez, who ran away with the match, 21-11 and 21-14.
To begin the first doubles bout, Army Espe and Venice Salopong took the court against a pairing of Mary Destiny Untal and Jasmine Reformina. After capitalizing on early errors from the Taft-based squad, the Soaring Falcons were able to slowly pull away to an 11-2 lead by the mid-game interval of the first game, converting their form into a 21-11, 21-7 win to obtain Adamson’s first doubles match point of the tie.
In succeeding doubles action, DLSU’s Athena Villanueva and Erin Vitangcol worked through relentless exchanges against AdU’s Ashley Bernardino and Camille Buagas. Villanueva served as the primary frontcourt attacker for the La Salle pairing and forced Adamson to defend and counter-attack, but could not convert the points as they were down 11-6 midway through the first game. The Green-and-White could not answer back, dropping a 21-10 and 21-15 decision to the Soaring Falcons to end the doubles portion of the tie.