THE BLUE Eagles made quick work of the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons and the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors with a pair of 5-0 sweeps. The battle with the Soaring Falcons took place on Sunday, September 22, at the Camp Crame Sports Center, Quezon City, while the Red Warriors matchup was held on Tuesday, September 24, at the Centro Atletico Badminton Hall, Quezon City.
The two results take the Blue Eagles’ record to 3-1, just behind two undefeated teams: The De La Salle University (DLSU) and National University—both sit at a 4-0 record in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82 Men’s Badminton Tournament. Meanwhile, AdU and UE yet to score a victory with 0-4 and 0-5 slates, respectively.
Ateneo opened up the first match against the Soaring Falcons with rookie Arthur Salvado, who squared up against Adamson’s own Marf Concha. Salvado started the first game with unmatched intensity as he led Concha 7-3 to start and kept the attack going until he won the first game 21-14. The second game was a similar story, with Salvador starting strong and beating Concha 21-13.
Keoni Asuncion suited up for the second match of the day to clash with David Libanan. Asuncion showed off his veteran prowess by outlasting Libanan and slowly pulling away with the lead. The first game ended with an untimely error from Libanan, giving Keoni Asuncion the set. Asuncion proceeded to take control of the entire second, defeating Libanan 21-9.
The Blue Eagles went into the third match with the rookie-veteran combo of Jeno Cariño and Captain Fides Bagasbas as they dueled with Adamson’s Kevin Fabros and David Libanan. The Ateneo duo was locked in from the start, scoring the first six points of the first game and eventually dismantling Fabros and Libanan, 21-10. It looked to be the same story in the second game as Cariño and Libanan once again went up 6-2 to start, but Adamson refused to go down without a fight. The AdU tandem came back to take the lead 10-9. Unfazed, the Ateneo twosome prevented the run from getting too out of hand and won the second game 21-17 to lock in the team-tie victory.
The second doubles showed off the partnership between Co-captains Keoni Asuncion and Arthur Salvado, both playing their second matches of the day. The first two games against Marf Concha Johnrick Macabenta were tight-knit as both sides were unwilling to give up either game. Adamson took the first game 21-19 after going down 8-3 to start, while Ateneo responded by forcing a third game with a 21-17 win. The Adamson pair looked gassed by the third set and had no answers for Asuncion and Salvado as they dominated the final game of the match 21-5.
Bryan Bernardo suited up for the third and final singles match, which pitted him against AdU’s Kevin Fabros. Bernardo took control early in the first game, racing out to a 11-8 lead before winning 21-15. Fabros controlled most of the second game, but a focused Bernardo came back from down 16-19 to complete the 5-0 sweep with a 22-20 win.
Meanwhile in the battle against UE, Bernardo ignited proceedings with a statement performance in the first singles match of the day against UE’s Christian Lloyd Garcia. Bernardo dialed in a 21-8 win in his opening salvo and carried his sharp play into the second set, drowning out Garcia with an identical score, 21-8, and placing Ateneo in the win column.
Asuncion followed up Bernardo’s exceptional play with a classy showing of his own against UE’s Angelo David. Asuncion outworked his opponent in two sets, 21-14 and 21-9, using assertive offensive play. He finished off the match with a soft shot at the net over David.
After Asuncion’s smooth victory, Bagasbas and Cariño took the reins for the first doubles match of the day against UE’s Khristian Reyes and Edward Adriano. The duo came out strong, stacking on an eight point lead to start the first game for Ateneo.
Bagasbas and Cariño turned the heat up after the break, forcing errors and slamming down kills to seize a win in the first game, 21-6. Adriano and Reyes struggled to contain the duo in the second game as they produced a dominant 21-9 victory for Ateneo’s third win of the morning.
Rookies Cody Torres and Jacinto Maliwat took center stage in the second doubles match, facing off against UE’s Angelo David and Jireh Ortega. Despite their energetic play, Ortega and David matched them point for point and eked out a set, 17-21. Maliwat and Torres bounced back in the next set, 21-18, then dominated the deciding set, 21-10, to earn Ateneo’s fourth win of the round.
Salvado wrapped up the day’s action in the third single’s match against UE’s Lance Pelobillo. The young Blue Eagle left Pelobillo in the dust, running out to an 11-3 lead at the break before bagging the set, 21-9.
The second set saw a similar result from both sides as Salvado firmly outplayed Pelobillo once again with precise strikes and less errors. Salvado closed out his opponent, 21-10, to put the cherry on top of an outstanding showing from the Blue Eagles.
After the UE team-tie, Keoni Asuncion was quick to shower praise on his rookie teammates. “I’m very happy for our rookies, especially Jac [Maliwat] and Cody [Torres]. They stepped up and did well,” he added.
The Blue Eagles will return to Camp Crame Sports Center this weekend in the hopes of securing a playoff spot. At 8:00 AM on Saturday, September 28, they will face-off against the University of the Philippines (UP) before an 8:00 AM showdown with 2nd-seeded DLSU on Sunday, September 29.
Ateneo vs. AdU
Team-tie Score: Ateneo 5, AdU 0
Match Scores:
First Singles: Arthur Salvado (Ateneo) defeated Marf Concha (Adamson): 21-14, 21-13
Second Singles: Keoni Asuncion (Ateneo) defeated David Libanan (Adamson): 21-14, 21-9
First Doubles: Fides Bagasbas and Jeno Cariño (Ateneo) defeated Kevin Fabros and David Libanan (Adamson): 21-10, 21-17
Second Doubles: Keoni Asuncion and Arthur Salvado (Ateneo) defeated Marf Concha and Johnrick Macabenta (Adamson): 19-21, 21-17, 21-5
Third Singles: Bryan Bernardo (Ateneo) defeated Kevin Fabros (Adamson): 21-15, 22-20
Ateneo vs. UE
Team-tie Score: Ateneo 5, UE 0
Match Scores:
First Singles: Bryan Bernardo (Ateneo) defeated Christian Lloyd Garcia (UE): 21-8, 21-8
Second Singles: Keoni Asuncion (Ateneo) defeated Angelo David (UE): 21-14, 21-9
First Doubles: Fides Bagasbas and Jeno Carino (Ateneo) defeated Khristian Reyes and Edward Adriano (UE): 21-6, 21-9
Second Doubles: Cody Torres and Jacinto Maliwat (Ateneo) defeated Jireh Ortega and Angelo David (UE): 17-21, 21-18, 21-10
Third Singles: Arthur Salvado (Ateneo) defeated Lance Pelobillo (UE) 21-9, 21-10
Third Singles: Arthur Salvado (Ateneo) defeated Lance Pelobillo (UE) 21-9, 21-10
