THE UST Male Shuttlers’ season-ending 6-1 win-loss record may have betrayed their title aspirations.
But the performance was enough to catapult the Male Shuttlers to bridesmaid honors this season, an upgrade from last year’s fourth-place finish.
“This is a great improvement from last year. It really came as a surprise for me after they defeated even defending champion (De) La Salle (University). It is just that the veterans did not step up,” coach Noli Cajefe told the Varsitarian after his wards capped the season with a 5-0 sweep of Adamson University last March 7 at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
Season 71 Rookie of the Year RJ Ormilla initiated the UST onslaught in the first singles match, overwhelming Adamson’s Kim Francisco, 21-15, 21-10. Thomasian Francisco Magnaye followed suit in the other singles face-off by overpowering Jordan Alcantara, 21-18, 21-10.
Ormilla later teamed up with Derrick Chan in the first doubles match to repulse the Adamson tandem of Francisco and Akira Gan, 21-8, 21-17.
Magnaye and Renz Vivas treaded the same track after defeating the hapless Falcon pair of Alcantara and Ian Dizon, 21-15, 21-10, in the second doubles encounter before Paolo Dawal delivered the final blow via a 21-8, 21-18 win in the third singles match.
Title break
Despite lacking big guns to handle powerhouse rivals, the Lady Shuttlers still showed they could pack a smash as they placed third with a 5-2 win-loss card. The Lady Shuttlers, last season’s champions, wrapped up Season 71 by ripping La Salle, 4-1, last March 7.
The University of the East and La Salle placed first and second, respectively, despite having the same win-loss records due to the set scoring system.
“We really lacked athletes for our doubles. We were fortunate enough that we won against La Salle in our previous encounters. If we have lost any set further, we would have dropped from the top because of the scoring system,” Cajefe said.
Season 70 Most Valuable Player Rose Anne de la Cruz led UST’s campaign with a 21-11, 24-22 trouncing of La Salle’s Rachel Guerrero in the first singles match.
But La Salle bounced back courtesy of Descka Calimlim who drubbed Lady Shuttler Jemelle Vicencio, 10-21, 10-21, in the succeeding singles match.
UST seized the upperhand anew as Camille Yang and Malou Gaspar outwitted the La Salle duo of Rachel Guerrero and Bernice Arsenio, 14-21, 26-24, 22-20, followed by a Dela Cruz-Vicencio beating of the La Salle pair of Calimlim and Caiylyn Chan, 21-17, 21-19, in the doubles matches.
Yang sealed the Lady Shuttlers’ Season 71 standing after conquering Aira Pineda, 21-19, 18-21, 21-18, in the third singles match.
