Ateneo places in UAAP 74 Badminton tournament

The Ateneo de Manila Men’s and Women’s Badminton teams ended UAAP Season 74 as Champions and First Runner-up respectively.

On September 20, Tuesday, both teams trooped to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Badminton Hall to battle it out for the Badminton Championships. The Blue Eagles booked a ticket to the finals after beating De La Salle University twice and they faced a much improved National University squad. The Lady Eagles, who also overcame a twice to beat disadvantage over Far Eastern University, went up against the University of the East shuttlers.

Patrick Wilfred Natividad opened things for the Blue Eagles. He faced Aries Delos Santos and won in 3 games, 17-21, 21-10, 21-12. Nationally ranked Antonino Gadi followed it up with another win over Joper Escueta, where he dropped a game for the first time, 24-22, 19-21, 21-17.

After his singles match, Gadi suffered a bout of cramps and was on the floor for almost the entire first doubles match. Justin Natividad and Paolo Sunga wasn’t able to sweep the Finals match as they dropped their doubles match despite winning the first game, 21-19, 12-21, 15-21. This gave NU a fighting chance to close in on the lead of the Blue Eagles.

The second doubles match saw the older Natividad and Gadi team up against Escueta and Babad. The NU duo saw the clear distress on the part of Gadi and they tried to take advantage of this by sending the shuttlecock his way. But the Blue Eagles rallied to end the game and the match to become Season 74 Champions.

Gadi also won the Most Valuable Player award and Coach Kennie Asuncion won Best Coach.

Later in the afternoon, it was the Lady Eagles’ turn on the court. Rookie Gelita Castilo wasted no time getting a first win for the Lady Eagles as she disposed of May Pamorada in 2 games, 21-18, 21-5. Dia Magno followed with her match against Rochelle Andres. Magno was able to extend the match to a third game but costly errors gave UE the opportunity to tie after Andres’ 16-21, 21-14, 19-21 win.

Carla Lizardo and Mikee Roxas were the first pair to play in the doubles matches. They faced UE shuttlers Fatima Cruz and Kimberley Gatpolintan who took the match, 21-19, 21-13. This gave UE a 1 match lead over the Lady Eagles.

Nationally ranked Castilo and Magno teamed up to tie the match evenly at 2. They defeated Pamorada and Andress in 2 exciting sets, 22-20, 21-12, to bring the finals to a deciding fifth game.

It came down to team captain Lisa Encarnacion, who faced Fatima Cruz, to try to win the match and the championship for the Lady Eagles. Encarnacion fought with valiantly against UE’s top player but ultimately the championship went to Recto with a 15-21, 18-21 win.

The Lady Eagles vastly improved on their 7^th place from last season to being runners-up in Ateneo’s hosting season. Castilo also went away with the Rookie of the Year trophy.

Congratulations to the Blue and Lady Eagles for a magnificent Season 74. ONE BIG FIGHT!