THE ATENEO blue shuttlers bounced back from their recent 4-1 defeat at the hands of the University of the Philippines (UP) badminton team by defeating the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws on Sunday, September 18, 2016 at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila City with a team-tie score of 4-1.
The blue shuttlers now stand at a 1-1 win-loss record in the University of Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 badminton tournament.
Emilio Mangubat opened the team-tie with his singles match against FEU’s Maquelabit. Mangubat started strong in the first set, racing to an early 3-0 lead before Maquelabit proceeded to score twice to reduce the deficit to one. Mangubat and Maquelabit then exchanged points until Mangubat went on a 3-0 run to bring the score to 15-9 in Ateneo’s favor. Mangubat then smashed his way to a 21-13 victory in the first set. The second set however, proved to be different. Maquelabit led t the whole set until Mangubat capitalized on a Maquelabit error by smashing the opponent’s poorly-struck return.
The game was then followed by the UAAP debut of Xavier School badminton standout, Enrico “Keoni” Asuncion as he faced FEU’s Bacalso in the second singles match of the day. Asuncion got off a rocky start, with Asuncion quickly trailing 3-0 in less than three minutes. Asuncion however, responded with a smash of his own to give him some momentum and he catapulted himself into the lead in the next sequences, ending the first set at 23-21. The second set featured Asuncion leading Bacalso in the whole set before eventually finishing off Bacalso in a spectacular fashion of a smash, earning him his UAAP debut victory by the score of 21-12.
The match was then followed by the doubles match between Ateneo’s Hans Bernardo and Carlo Remo and FEU’s Bocalsoand Tercias. Bernardo and Remo entered into a seesaw battle with their opponents, tying the score at 20-20, then extending the score to win (22-20). The Ateneo pair cleaned up quickly by dispatching their opponents with their powerful smashes, ending the match at 21-14.
Unfortunately, the tandem of Gecosala and Bagasbas failed to add to the victories by losing in an exciting three-set thriller against FEU’s Maquelabit/Dionisio. The first set featured both sides trading points before FEU eventually took the first set 22-20. The second set followed suit, with Ateneo and FEU entering a neck and-neck battle before the Blue and White takes the set with a score of 21-17. The third set however, saw FEU leading the whole game before eventually finishing off the blue shuttlers with a 21-17 victory.
The last match of the day was played by Clarence Filart. The first set saw him leading the whole game, before eventually seeing him smash his way to a 21-14 victory. The second set however, proved to be a challenge for Filart. Filart and his opponent saw themselves swapping points before Filart came by with a winning smash to end the team-tie for the day (21-19).
After the team’s victory, team captain Sean Chan was visibly pleased with the team’s performance and even went on to express his confidence in the team. “I’m really happy with the performance of the team today. I felt that everybody was more into it than yesterday’s match,” says Chan. “I think that yesterday’s loss affected our mentality and mindset going into today because everyone was much more hungry for that win. I’m pretty confident that we will be able to play like this against UE (University of the East) on Wednesday.”
Freshman Keoni Asuncion expresses his side on both his UAAP debut and the team’s victory. “It feels really good to play my game. I felt a bit nervous and I felt the pressure but I think it’s pretty normal for any rookie playing his first game. But I feel like I did really well,” said Asuncion
The blue shuttlers face off the UE Red Warriors this coming Wednesday, September 21, 2016, at 8AM in Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
