FOR THE Ateneo Blue Paddlers, the second day of the UAAP Table Tennis Tournament was no different than the first on Sunday, September 26 at the Blue Eagle Gym. After defeats to FEU, UP and arch rival DLSU, they have skidded down to a 0-6 record.

Coming back with renewed morale wasn’t enough for the Blue Paddlers. Their first game was another sweep at the hands of FEU’s battle-hardened veterans. Along with UST, the Tamaraws are also favored to win. Double-team Pierre Jacinto and Percival Elfran drew the only winning set against FEU as they were the only match with saw close scores of 11-8, 6-11, 8-11 and 5-11.

The Loyola-based team bounced back in their game with close games and scores in another losing effort to the UP Fighting Maroons. Freshman Mihali Crisostomo was able to tie his game against UP’s Escalante at 2-2 sets a piece but was defeated in the fifth set with a 10-12 nail-biter.

Jacinto struggled against UP’s number one hot shot, Nanaman, whose strong strokes and serves dominated the game, resulting in a three set sweep. This was the same UP team gave FEU a scare yesterday with an insanely close match.

The final game of the day was against arch rival La Salle. The Paddlers seemed to find greater strength when they played against their Taft counterparts as every game between was a close match.

Pierre was able to upset DLSU’s best player, A. Chua, with a 3-1 win. Jacinto won the first two sets by a small margin and lost the third set. He was down 10-4 in the fourth set but had monstrous eight-point rally to win and defeat Chua with a score of 12-10. Despite DLSU winning the next 2 games to take the victory 3-1, Ateneo played well, as their heart and form was seen in the gritty match against their rivals.

The Paddlers have the rest of the week to re-think and re-plan their strategy for the final weekend of the UAAP Table Tennis Season from October 2 to 3 at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym.

Box Scores

ATENEO vs. FEU

Broqueza (FEU) def. Sean Co (Ateneo)

11-3, 11-3, 11-2

Selma (FEU) def. R. Cheng (Ateneo)

11-5, 11-2, 11-5

Dacut & Cruz (FEU) def. Pierre Jacinto & Percival Elfan (Ateneo)

8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5

ATENEO vs. UP

Escalante (UP) def. Mihali Crisostomo (Ateneo)

9-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10

Nanaman (UP) def. Pierre Jacinto (Ateneo)

11-4, 11-5, 12-10

Cacao & Vallon (UP) def. Paolo Carlos & John Villalon (Ateneo)

11-3, 11-7, 11-7

ATENEO vs. DLSU

Cristobal (DLSU) def. Percival Elfan (Ateneo)

11-5, 11-6, 11-3

Pierre Jacinto (Ateneo) def. A. Chua (DLSU)

11-8; 11-9; 5-11; 12-10

D. Wong & De Pedro (DLSU) def. Justin Lagasca & John Villalon (Ateneo)

11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7

T. Yu (DLSU) de. Mihali Crisostomo (Ateneo)

11-7, 11-4, 11-9