AFTER AN impressive run to the finals, the Ateneo Men’s Table Tennis Team fell short of their illustrious championship expectations, bested by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Paddlers in the finals, 0-2, for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 Table Tennis tournament. The final contest occurred earlier today at the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City.
First game
Jumpstarting the day was a face-off between Ateneo’s co-captain Drozle Fresco versus UST’s Manny De Leon. The matchup had De Leon taking control, displaying a series of powerful maneuvers to take the first two sets, 8-11 and 6-11 respectively. With his back against the wall, the Blue Eagle decided to match the Tiger Paddler’s intensity, winning a pivotal rally which snowballed to an 11-8 victory in the third set.
In the next set, Fresco would push his tempo to achieve an 8-1 tally. De Leon then responded, bridging the gap with an impressive 9-2 run, 10-10. The set eventually evolved into a back-and-forth affair, ending with De Leon’s two decisive moves, 15-13, drawing first blood for UST.
Following the first match, Ateneo’s Kong Cabrido battled it out with UST’s Eljey Tormis. The whole match boasted the most impressive rallies of the entire day, with both players switching turns for the limelight in each set. Despite this, the exchange ended when UST’s Tormis dominated the fifth set, 4-11. With Tormis’s win, the Tiger Paddlers went up 2-0 in team-tie points, closing in to secure the first game.
Trailing 0-2, the Blue Eagles needed to clinch victory to achieve the first team-tie point. For the doubles match, Ateneo sent out Wrency Abad and France De Asis to battle Abraham Paul IV Antivo and Ruiz Marcelino. The opening salvo of the doubles match was an overtime thriller, concluding with UST forcing Ateneo’s blunder to win the first set, 12-14. Maintaining their momentum, the Tiger Paddlers pair dictated the table for the following two sets, handing UST the series lead, 1-0.
Second game
After the hour break, the Blue Eagles opened the second game with Andree Garcia facing UST’s Alvin Sevilla. Unfortunately for Ateneo, the reigning MVP would blaze through his opponent, sweeping Ateneo’s Garcia in two commanding sets. Although Garcia put up a fight in the third set, Sevilla finished him off by pressuring the Blue Eagle to commit a fatal mistake, 13-11.
Looking to avenge his fellow Blue Eagle, Ateneo’s Andrew Uy came out swinging in the first set by defeating UST’s John Michael Castro, 11-4. The subsequent set was a suspenseful overtime bout as Castro eked out the win, 13-11. Unfettered by the nail-biting loss, Uy would remain as fierce as an eagle, swooping in for the close victory, 11-9. However, the Tiger Paddler would bite back, taking the last two sets in a commanding roar, 11-5 and 11-3 consecutively.
In the wake of UST’s previous victory, one more match loss would mean the end of Ateneo’s run in the tournament. To combat the Tiger Paddlers, the Blue Eagles deployed Fresco and Abad to deal with Marcelino and Antivo for the doubles match. The introductory set had the duo take UST by surprise, 11-8. Replicating their performance in even more dominant fashion, the Blue Eagles dealt another blow to the España-based squad, 11-5. In retaliation to the setback, the Tiger Paddlers influenced the direction of the table, pushing for set number five, 11-5.
With the match tied, the Blue Eagles had to engineer a miraculous comeback to steal a set win, or it would spell the end of their Season 86 title hopes. It was a contested match between the four contestants, but the Tiger Paddlers stole the game from Ateneo in one final spurt, 11-6. The loss marked the end of the road for the Blue Eagles, 0-2 in favor of UST.
As the UAAP Table Tennis Tournaments comes to a close, the Ateneo Men’s Table Tennis Team is arming themselves to bounce back from the Finals loss, determined to return even stronger in Season 87.
Game 1 – Set Scores (Ateneo-UST): Ateneo – 0, UST – 3
- Fresco vs. De Leon: 8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 13-15
- Cabrido vs. Tormis: 8-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 7-11
- Abad & De Asis vs. Antivo & Marcelino: 12-14, 5-11, 3-11
Game 2 – Set Scores (Ateneo-UST): Ateneo – 0, UST – 3
- Garcia vs. Sevilla: 3-11, 3-11, 11-13
- Uy vs. Castro: 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 5-11, 3-11
- Fresco & Abad vs. Marcelino & Antivo: 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 5-11, 6-11
