Men’s Badminton drop second consecutive game, Women’s team go 4-0

The Ateneo Men’s Badminton team suffered a second consecutive loss Sunday morning at the hands of the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. They won one match to FEU’s 4.

Justin Natividad, ranked number one among Under-19 competitors by the Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS), played valiantly but dropped the first singles match against FEU Tamaraw Wilferdo Amoroso 19-21, 17-21. Toby Gadi, ranked PBaRS men’s number one, gave Ateneo a sliver of hope when he dominated his match, 21-10, 21-8, to tie the round at 1 match each.

However, the Blue Eagles dropped both doubles matches. Pawee Natividad and Paolo Sunga played in the first doubles match and nearly won, with scores of 18-21, 21-18, 19-21.

Gadi & Justin Natividad, while ranked highly by the PBaRS, lost in consecutive sets, 19-21, 17-21.
Pawee Natividad also lost 17-21, 21-19 in a no-bearing match.

In the afternoon, the Ateneo Women’s Badminton Team continued their winning ways as they beat DLSU 3-2. Their win proved that they are indeed the dark horse for this year’s tournament.

PBaRS Women’s number one Gelita Castilo dominated as expected against De La Salle shuttler Danica San Ignacio, 21-18, 21-15.

Dia Magno, however, lost her match in two games, 7-21, 9-21.

Castilo, who already tasted victory in her singles match, teamed up with Mikee Roxas in Ateneo’s first doubles match. The duo lost in three games, 21-18, 12-21, 8-21.

In the second doubles match of the day, Magno and Carla Lizardo put together an impressive performance to rally back and beat their opponents, 11-21, 21-16, 21-17.

And in a must-win situation, Lisa Encarnacion delivered the goods as she beat Danica Bolos, 21-19, 21-14, giving Ateneo the win against a hard-fighting De La Salle University.

The Badminton Tournament continues for three more weekends at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Badminton Hall. Each school needs to win 3 out of 5 matches versus its opponent in order to move up in the standings. The Men’s team was the runner-up in last year’s wars while the Women’s team was not able to muster a podium finish. With the addition of top recruits, however, both teams are expected to contend for the top position.

The next match of the Men’s team will be on August 20, Saturday, 9 am against Adamson University while the Women’s team will go up against Far Eastern University at 1 pm.