IN 2016, the Ateneo Women’s Badminton Team welcomed Chanelle Lunod to their home court, marking a new era for the Blue and White. Lunod’s arrival, whose track record boasted multiple awards from the 2015 and 2016 Palarong Pambansa, was set to make a difference in the Lady Eagle’s quest for the gold.

True enough, after four University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) seasons, back-to-back UAAP championships, and two co-MVP titles later, Lunod left her mark as the Queen Eagle of Ateneo Women’s Badminton.

However, the road to Lunod’s success followed a long and arduous journey. While the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) representative possesses exemplary physical abilities as evidenced by her numerous accolades, it is her mental strength that has pushed her over the top. Lunod’s athletic career would not be what it is today without the immeasurable amount of pressure she endured—one that involved literal blood, sweat, and tears. 

Greeting inner demons

In the case of elite athletes like Lunod, there comes a point in their careers where one’s talent is measured by how they handle grace under pressure. “I think that’s my strength, I can adapt no matter what position my coach puts me in. If I’m put in a spot wherein I am the deciding person, everyone believes I’ll perform,” said the Lady Eagle. 

However, Lunod’s magic bullet did not always work in her favor. Before she nabbed the co-MVP titles in Seasons 81 and 82, Lunod needed to surmount her love-hate relationship with pressure during her rookie year, a time when mental tenacity was her weakest link.

The badminton veteran recalled two crucial firsts from her debut season: Her first taste of victory and first traumatic upset. Despite bagging the Rookie of the Year award in Season 79, Lunod remembered the season’s final win-or-lose match where her performance was disrupted by pressure and the false hope for a UAAP championship crown. “We were so close to winning the championship that year. I was in the deciding doubles game, and the pressure got to me so bad [that] I choked. I can’t help but blame myself,” she narrated.

Following her disappointing performance in the finals, Lunod swore to never let pressure get the best of her again. “After [the finals game] I took the pressure as something to motivate myself instead of allowing it to overcome me,” she said. 

However, the opportunity to redeem herself reappeared two years later when Season 81 introduced yet another challenge—this time tenfold the size of her past encounter with pressure.

Fighting an uphill battle

Following the departure of seniors Cassie Lim, Trixie Malibiran, and badminton phenom Bianca Carlos in Season 80, it was clear that the team faced a less-than-ideal situation going into Season 81 with only six returning veterans. “Most of us can play singles, but if you compare the level to the seniors who graduated, they were better than us. I was worried there was no one to lean on,” expressed Lunod.

To make matters worse, the temporary departure of Head Coach Kennie Asuncion-Robles due to personal reasons left the already-skeletal team in an even more worrisome predicament. With the departure of key cogs in the team, the Lady Eagles were relegated to becoming underdogs for the upcoming season.

At this point, the Lady Eagle was disheartened by the team’s marginal chance of winning the championship. However, Coach Vic Asuncion’s presence played a pivotal role in Lunod’s best season yet. “Coach Vic had a lot to do with my performance that year [Season 81] because he was really, really, really pushing me to the point that I would cry in training everyday,” Lunod shared.

The Lady Eagle recounted days where she was forced to adapt to a higher level of physical and mental pressure. Yet, with tear-streaked cheeks, Lunod showed up to the hardcourt persistently. Eager to improve her craft and prove her doubters wrong, Lunod trained thrice a day and seven days a week.

As Season 81 neared, Lunod found that the extra shove from Coach Vic reinvigorated the winning morale she lost early in the pre-season. “The intensity of our training motivated us to prove [doubters] wrong. We knew we improved. We were confident to find out how much we improved that summer,” expressed Lunod.

Against all odds

Despite her renewed confidence and optimism, another obstacle loomed ahead for Lunod. After the second match day of Season 81, she was rushed to the hospital due to extreme body cramps that left her crippled from the waist down. The Lady Eagle painfully recalled memories of her distressing hospital stay—the daily dextrose injections, her handicapped body, and the excruciating ordeal she withstood to be able to walk again.

“That season [81] was the most exhausting season for me. If I wasn’t strong enough mentally, hindi ko kakayanin (I wouldn’t make it) until the end,” she shared.

With her strong will and desire to win, the headstrong Lady Eagle returned to the hardcourt as soon she could, reappearing in time for Ateneo’s elimination round matchup against the University of the Philippines (UP). In the Battle of Katipunan, Lunod faced UP’s top-seeded player and National Team athlete Poca Alcala. After weeks of being away from the court, Lunod lost to Alcala in consecutive sets during her first matchup of the day. However, the setback did little to dampen her spirits and instead, unleashed a raging fire rarely seen from Lunod before.

The Lady Eagle encountered Alcala once more in Ateneo’s finals showdown against UP. Relentless to recover from her disappointing elimination round loss, the spirited Lady Eagle carved her redemption as she squashed Alcala with a convincing 21-16 finish in the match’s deciding set. “If I hadn’t been tough mentally, I wouldn’t be able to beat her [Alcala] in the second game. Kasi (Because) during the first [eliminations matchup], I was durog talaga (really demolished),” Lunod said.

Riding off the momentum from her win against Alcala, Lunod combined forces with co-captain Geva De Vera to cap off the season with a smashing straight set victory, 21-10, 21-9, in the deciding doubles match to bag the University’s first title in five years.

“Season 81 is my biggest win as a UAAP player, my proudest moment ever. If you really work hard for something and get it, the feeling is unexplainable,” the Lady Eagle passionately remarked. After a long and turbulent journey, the title for the badminton supremacy was finally in Lunod’s hands.

The final curtain

Following the official cancellation of Season 83 and Lunod’s decision to forgo her final playing year, it is due time to unpack the trials that sent her limits over the edge. The badminton star’s daunting voyage to the top proves that she is worth more than just her accolades as the challenges she surmounted deserve a special trophy of their own. With two UAAP titles and two co-MVP awards under her belt, Lunod heads down from the hill with her name forever etched in the history books of the UAAP’s badminton scene.