IN THE duel of the undefeated, both the Ateneo Lady Shuttlers and the FEU Lady Tamaraws tussled to claim the top spot in the UAAP standings on August 20, at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Badminton Hall.
For both teams, it was a prolonged struggle as the majority of the bearing matches went to the wire—three matches ending in three games, with three of the games going beyond the 21 match point mark.
The Lady Tamaraws, however, were the eventual victors, winning 3-2 as they managed to pull away at the most crucial moments. With the loss, the Lady Shuttlers drop to a 4-1 record, and are clinched with the De La Salle Lady Archers.
The first game of the day featured, Lady Shuttler, Gelita Castilo and, Lady Tamaraw, Katherine Mayono. As expected, Castilo extended her undefeated record in the singles division by beating Mayono 21-15, 21-15. On numerous occasions, Castilo capitalized on the often defensively off-balanced Mayono, going for the easy kill. Castilo also took advantage of Mayono’s weak backhand, as she overwhelmed it with a series of drives and smashes.
The next singles bout pitted, Lady Shuttler, Lisa Encarnacion against, Lady Tamaraw, Jennifer Cayetano. Encarnacion lost to Cayetano 19-21, 21-18, 12-21, despite finding some offensive rhythm midway through the game. Unfortunately, in the third and deciding game, Encarnacion was unable to control a lot of her strikes, and committed costly errors.
The Ateneo doubles pair of Carla Lizardo and Dia Magno, were up next, facing Clarissa Pascual and Gretchen Culaste. The Lady Tamaraw pair, after being pushed to the limits, eventually, won 27-25, 20-22, 22-20.
Despite being marred by errors, Lizardo and Magno’s balanced defense, and aggressive attack, kept them within close proximity of Pascual and Culast. All three games were pushed into deuce; unfortunately, the ladies in blue were unable to pull away in the final and deciding game.
It was a heated affair, with Magno being reprimanded for a gesture of enthusiasm that was perceived by the referee to be a taunt directed at the opposing players. The Pascual and Culaste win, gave FEU the 2-1 lead, forcing the Lady Shuttlers into a must win situation.
However, the Lady Shuttlers’ second doubles pair, Castilo and Mikee Roxas failed to come through with the win, losing to Mayono and Cayetano 19-21, 21-11, 19-21. The ladies in blue lost the first game off an, unfortunate quick error, yet, retaliated in a commanding display of attack in the second game, winning 21-11.
But yet again, the Lady Shuttlers weren’t able to pull through at the very end, when it mattered most. In the third game, they were trailing18-20, but were given a glimmer of hope through Castilo’s smash that closed the lead to 19-20. Still, a misdirected drive going wide ended the Lady Shuttler’s run to remain undefeated, as the FEU Lady Tamaraws got the 3-1 win.
Magno settled the final score at 3-2, with her third singles defeat of Pascual, 21-15, 16-21, 21-17.
“ We got pressured when FEU got advantage, and it was with us to bring it to all, but if not for the pressure we could’ve won. It also could’ve been over confidence, because we are coming off a win against De La Salle”, shared, rookie sensation, Castilo about the loss.
The Lady Shuttlers look to bounce back against UST on Sunday, August 20, 1:00 PM at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Badminton Hall.
