THE ATENEO Men’s Table Tennis Team concluded the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 Table Tennis eliminators after prevailing over the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons and the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, 3-1. All games took place earlier today at the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City.
These wins put the Blue Eagles’ final elimination round record at 9-3, securing the second seed and a spot at the UAAP tournament’s Final Four.
8:00 AM match vs AdU
In the Battle of the Birds’ opening encounter, Ateneo’s Kong Cabrido took on AdU’s Jed Villaviray. In the first game, the game would find itself in a 6-6 tie midway through the game. However, Cabrido would slither through for the 11-7 victory. Despite the strong start and two valiant comeback efforts, the Blue Eagle proceeded to drop the next three games, 7-11, 5-11, 11-13.
Following Cabrido was rookie Andree Garcia, who went up against John Polido. Going into the fourth game down 1-2 in the set, Ateneo’s Garcia came out guns blazing, taking a 10-5 lead. Facing the fire, Adamson’s Polido answered with five straight Adamson points to tie the game. However, the Blue Eagle was able to find his footing, eventually winning, 13-11. In the deciding fifth game, Garcia would pull away courtesy of a 5-2 run, defeating Polido, 11-8, to give Ateneo their first team-tie point.
In the first doubles set, Ateneo duo Wrency Abad and France De Asis took on Jhon Balucos and Aldrean Gacho. All three games went the Blue Eagles’ way, 11-9, 11-8, and 11-2.
As the last set of the match commenced, Team Captain Andrew Uy stepped up to face Amiel Aroma. Uy stumbled through the beginning of the first game as he would go down 2-6 to Aroma. The Blue Eagle would eventually lose, 10-12. In contrast to his first outing, Uy played aggressively, scoring five consecutive smashes and winning, 11-5. This regained confidence would work wonders for the Atenean as he would go on to bag two landslide victories, 11-3 and 11-5, to give Ateneo the 3-1 team-tie win.
1:30 PM match vs UE
Cabrido was again tasked with opening, this time up against UE’s Runmar Quipanes. The Eagle set a great tone to begin, dominating with a 5-0 start and winning, 11-3. This triumphant tune held true for the next two games, as Cabrido cruised past Quipanes with similar 11-7 tallies.
Next up for Ateneo was Drozle Fresco, who faced Bill Perez. After a 4-4 start, the Atenean went on a 4-0 run to take the 8-4 lead. Fresco would eventually end the first game on a 3-1 run, capping an 11-5 victory. Much like Cabrido before him, the Blue Eagle carried over his momentum from the first game to triumph in the next two games, 11-4 and 11-3 to give Ateneo a 2-0 team-tie lead.
For the only doubles set of the matchup, Atenean duo Jamie De Asis and Anton Gabi took on Kyle Lanzaderas and Kevin Muriel. The set opened with a nail-biter as no team took a lead larger than two. Ateneo would eventually drop the game, 11-13. The next two games saw De Asis and Gabi take a 2-1 set lead after winning, 11-6 and 11-9. In response, Lanzaderas and Muriel dominated the fourth game, handing Ateneo a 3-11 loss. The deciding game proved to be the most competitive, as both teams were tied on four separate occasions. Eventually, De Asis and Gabi fumbled two rallies in the final game, giving UE their first team-tie point.
During the third singles set, Ateneo’s Andree Garcia stood opposite Jan Presibitero. Garcia showed his consistency once more as the rookie standout took three straight 11-8 victories to close out UE and bag the Blue Eagles their ninth win of the season.
The second-seeded Blue Eagles are set to clash with the third-seeded De La Salle University Green Paddlers for the UAAP Season 86 Table Tennis Semifinals. As of writing, the schedule for the Final Four has yet to be announced.
Final Standings (W/L)
- UST (12-0)
- ATENEO (9-3)
- DLSU (8-4)
- AdU (5-7)
- UP (4-8)
- FEU (4-8)
- UE (0-12)
