THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles were unable to nab a victory on the second and third days of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 78 Table Tennis tournament, held from October 24 to 25 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila. The teams combined for a 0-14 record over the weekend.
The Blue Eagles succumbed to the Far Eastern University Tamaraws (0-3) in their final game of the weekend. Sophomore Paolo Rosete (0-3), senior Ranel Mafe (2-3), and the doubles pairing of Co-Captain David Dayao and rookie Mikey Lagasca (1-3) all knocked on the door, but ultimately, could not pull out wins against their opponents from Morayta.
The team would also fall to De La Salle University, University of the Philippines (UP), and University of the East (UE) during the first round of the elimination process. The blue paddlers followed up their Saturday performance by succumbing to Adamson University (AdU), UP, and National University (NU) during the beginning of the second round, which happened the next day.
Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles also went 0-7 over the weekend. The tandem of Lexine Uy and Trina Cruz were able to pick up doubles wins against NU and UE on day three. However, the Blue and White were still unable to garner wins in the singles matches, as they proceeded to lose both games with scores of 1-3. The lady paddlers also lost to University of Santo Tomas, FEU, and NU on day two, and UP and NU on the third day.
With these results, both the men’s and women’s teams each fall to 0-11 overall records in the tournament.
“Despite not being able to pull off even a single win this year, we’re still optimistic about how the future UAAP [seasons] will turn out,” said Jolo Matias. “The Ateneo [table tennis program] is in its rehabilitation years. We just started training under a new coaching staff, and we played without veterans on the team,” he added.
The Eagles still have one more chance to get on the win column for this season. The fourth and final day of the elimination round of the tournament will take place on Tuesday, October 27, also at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
