Photo by Christella D. Soriano
In a sport where, traditionally, a single player can carry the entire team, the Blue and Lady Shuttlers are vying for UAAP success with a different tactic.
While the men’s team has enjoyed the presence of the top collegiate and national shuttler in Toby Gadi, who remains undefeated in the singles category after two UAAP seasons, they have yet to gain the championship within the span of his dominance.
Such is the reality of UAAP Badminton—it is a team event, patterned after the Thomas and Uber Cup.
“We need to have everyone playing their best game at the same time. That’s the thing with team events; even if you have two good players, they can’t win it for the entire team. Everyone has to contribute in their own way,” says Coach Kennie Asuncion.
Clearly, the key factor for victory will be a team’s accumulated performance, regardless of whether the team in question has commendable individual players.
Now or never
Within the last two seasons, the Blue Shuttlers have been faced with the high expectation of bringing home the championship, and have fallen short on each occasion. This may be perceived as a source of discouragement for them, but it is anything but that.
The men in blue have actually reaped their motivation out of having experienced the scar of a championship barely slipping away—not once, but twice.
“Most of our lessons will come from losses … Our two most painful losses will motivate us,” says UAAP veteran Paolo Sunga.
Constituting the core of the Blue Shuttlers will be returning players Gadi, Sunga, and brothers Pawee and Justin Natividad. “The four of us will have to step it up, because the last two losses hurt and we were the ones who felt it. But we’re not kids anymore and we’re ready for anything,” says Sunga in a mix of English and Filipino.
After having gone through rigorous summer training, some of which took place in Thailand, the Blue Shuttlers are physically prepared.
Along with their daily training regimen, their preseason also consisted of taking part in the Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRs) tournaments, wherein so far the “Big Four” have taken up three spots in the Top 16 of the Open Men’s Singles division, and the second seed in the Under-19 Singles Boy’s division.
Gadi even had the honor of representing the Philippines in the fourth division of the Sudirman Cup, finishing the tournament with a 4-1 Win-Loss record.
The caliber of the UAAP Season 74 Blue Shuttlers is unquestionable. There’s no doubt that spectators and fans alike will, once again, be expecting nothing less than a championship.
However, as seen in previous seasons, a single set can mean the difference between winning it all and finishing runner-up. UAAP badminton is unpredictable, yet what can be guaranteed is that the Blue Shuttlers are now motivated more than ever.
“With the men’s team, we’re slowly climbing up the ladder. I think that is how things were meant to be, and I’m hoping this year we get it,” says Asuncion.
Aiming high
In the distaff side, Ateneo has been met with fairly similar disappointment, falling in the bottom two of the UAAP standings in the last two seasons.
This season, the Lady Shuttlers will carry over a wealth of experience, with six returning UAAP shuttlers in Carla Lizardo, Lisa Encarnacion, Paula Filart, Chikka Kumar, Jaimee Calacday and Mikee Roxas, who is returning from last year’s season-ending injury. Unfortunately, they will be missing the services of Season 73 mainstay, Audrey Ng.
Despite this, the Lady Shuttlers have been revamped by the additions of Gelita Castilo and Dia Magno, the top doubles pair in the PBaRS Open Women’s Doubles division. Additionally, Castilo is also the reigning number one seed in the Open Women’s Singles division. Castilo and Magno will give Loyola Heights a definite competitive boost, allowing for the team to matchup more evenly against the likes of DLSU, FEU and UE.
“We’re aiming high, and we have high hopes that the two new recruits can pull up the team. We have good existing players, but with the two girls in the team, we’re much better,” shares coach Kennie.
To be held once again at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Badminton Hall, the Season 74 Badminton Championships will kickoff on August 6, 2011 for every weekend until September 18.
