ENTERING THE home stretch of the 2024 Philippine Badminton Open (PBO), the Ateneo Men’s Badminton Team (AMBT) garnered a 4-6 win-loss record in the competition’s pivotal weekend. The matches were held from June 8 to 9 at the First Pacific Leadership Academy in Antipolo, Rizal.
Singles, Round of 16
To kickstart the round of 16 for Ateneo, Robby Ramos asserted his presence with an emphatic victory. The Blue Eagle sealed a landslide sweep against Mel Malacas of the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags, 21-8 and 21-5.
Following Ramos’ triumph was Team Captain Pingkoy Salvado, who impressed in another singles match sweep over Mega Smasher Macky Candelario by ending the contest in swift fashion, 21-12 and 21-11.
Riding the winning momentum, Co-Captain Lyrden Laborte notched the AMBT’s third consecutive win of the day. The veteran recorded Ateneo’s third sweep of the round over De La Salle University’s Jason Pajarillo to advance to the quarterfinals, 21-11 and 21-8.
Ending men’s singles action for Ateneo was Assistant Coach Carlo Remo, who faced Clarence Villaflor from Jaguar Badminton Academy. With both players aiming to enter the quarterfinal round, Villaflor refuted Remo’s advance with a 2-0 victory to hand AMBT their first loss of the weekend, 21-13 and 21-15.
Doubles, Round of 16
In the men’s doubles matchups, Salvado teamed up with Lance Vargas for their duel versus Jerickson Obaob and Yohan Rivas of the Philippine Army. The Blue Eagle duo secured the first set, 21-15, with hopes of closing the contest immediately. However, their opponents pulled off a stunning reverse sweep, 21-18 and 21-12, to steal their ticket into the quarterfinal round.
Following the loss, Christopher Anglo and Ramos challenged National University’s (NU) Jeno Cariño and Zed Monterubio. In two tight sets that reached deuces, the Blue Eagles yielded to their adversaries, 23-25 and 20-22.
To conclude yesterday’s contests, Charles Bagasbas and Laborte faced off against NU’s John Gam and Marc Perez. The Atenean pair clinched the first set, 21-18, but fell short of sealing their spot in the quarterfinals due to a reverse sweep by NU, 18-21 and 19-21.
Singles, Quarterfinal Round
Commencing today’s quarterfinals for the Blue Eagles was Ramos, who dueled Jewel Albo of Smash Pilipinas. Albo demonstrated his skill against the Blue Eagle on a sweep, 21-15 and 21-10, to deny Ramos’ journey to the semifinals.
Salvado then took on University of Santo Tomas’ Francis Sarmiento in his quarterfinal bout. In a masterclass, the AMBT captain and University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Most Valuable Player (MVP) swept his way to the semifinal round, 21-13 and 21-13.
Capping off today’s matchups for the Blue and White was fellow UAAP MVP Laborte squaring off against Villaflor, who had previously foiled Remo’s progress in the competition. In a similar outcome, Villaflor finished the duel in straight sets to end Laborte’s title bid, 21-17 and 21-13.
With these results, Salvado will be the lone AMBT member to represent the Ateneo in the semifinals tomorrow, June 10, at 10:00 AM in the same venue.
