THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles failed to get on the win column after the first day of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Table Tennis competition held on Saturday, October 17 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

The Blue Eagles struggled to find their rhythm against National University (NU), with their game ending with a 3-0 score line in favor of the Bulldogs. Go-to players Jolo Matias (0-3) and Paolo Rosete (0-3) were unable to record victories for the Blue and White, while the doubles pairing of Mikey Lagasca and Angelo Lopez (1-3) came closer, but ultimately fell short as well.

The results of the other games were similar, with a doubles win by Lopez and Lagasca (3-2) against Far Eastern University being the lone bright spot for the Eagles on a rough opening day. With defeats to Adamson University (AdU), FEU, NU, and University of Santo Tomas, the Blue Eagles begin their Season 78 campaign with a 0-4 start.

“Coach Ting [Ledesma] will be mixing again the lineup–singles and doubles. He’s gonna be experimenting on the lineup again and again; that’s our strategy for now,” said Team Captain Mizo Banaria, when asked about how the team will go about the following games.

On the Women’s side, the Lady Eagles lost to AdU in a heartbreaking nail-biter. After being down 2-0, they were able to claw their way back into the game and tie it at two matches apiece. In the end, however, they would lose in the deciding match, and the Lady Falcons picked up the 3-2 win.

The Lady Eagles would also fall to University of the East, University of the Philippines, and De La Salle University–bringing their first round record to 0-4 as well.

With the suspension of the second half of the first round due to inclement weather, the games will resume on Saturday, October 24 also at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.