THE ATENEO Men’s Badminton team were defeated by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Badminton tournament at a 5-0 scoreline on Thursday, October 5 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
Today’s defeat sees the Blue Eagles collect their third consecutive loss of the season to bump their tally to a 3-3 win-loss record, setting up a clash with archrivals De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, for the last remaining Final Four slot in the tournament.
Team Captain Carlo Remo featured in the first men’s singles match, taking on UST’s John Edgard Reyes. The first set saw Remo and Reyes testing out the waters as neither combatant seemed to claim the role of the aggressor. An overhit lob from Remo, however, gifted the first set to the Growling Tigers, 21-19. In the second set, Remo’s aggressive style of play earned him a seven point victory over Reyes at 21-14, but the third set fell into UST’s hands at 21-19 after unforced errors plagued Remo late in the set.
Clarence Filart was then deployed by the Blue and White for the second singles match of the day, going head-to-head with UST’s Cris Sanchez. Unforced errors similarly plagued Filart as he went on to lose both sets at 11-21, 17-21.
Trailing 0-2 in the team-tie, Remo teamed up with Keoni Asuncion in the first men’s doubles, clashing with the UST tandem of John Edgard Reyes and Jan Sotea. The Ateneo tandem did well, emerging as the victors in the first set (23-21), but the Growling Tigers would go on to claim the next two sets and secure team-tie victory by the scores of 16-21, 19-21.
Filart and Gibby Pana then featured in the second men’s doubles game of the day, clashing with the UST pairing of Kristian Barrios and Juan Miguel Santiago. Waves of inconsistencies once again plagued the Ateneo tandem as they went on to lose in straight sets at 12-21, 23-25.
In the third and final men’s singles of the day, Asuncion took on John Paul Yabut, who sealed the win to put the nail on the coffin for Ateneo, giving the Growling Tigers the last match at scores of 12-21, 22-20, 19-21.
The Blue Eagles will be looking to claim the last remaining Final Four spot by clashing heads with DLSU on Saturday, October 7 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
Match Score
Ateneo 0 UST 5
Set Scores
First Men’s Singles (Remo vs. Reyes): 19-21, 21-14, 19-21
Second Men’s Singles (Filart vs. Sanchez): 11-21, 17-21
First Men’s Doubles (Remo and Asuncion vs. Reyes and Sotea): 23-21, 16-21, 19-21
Second Men’s Doubles (Filart and Pana vs. Barrios and Santiago): 12-21, 23-25
Third Men’s Singles (Asuncion vs. Yabut): 21-12, 20-22, 19-21
