THE UST Tiger Paddlers swept the first elimination round at the expense of the De La Salle University Green Paddlers, while their female counterparts registered a more modest 4-2 record in the ongoing UAAP table tennis tournament.
Rookies Adolfo Bazar and Raymond Manlapaz led the way with a dominant 3-0 victory over La Salle’s Denzel Wong and Earvin De Pedro in the double’s match at the Ateneo gym last September 25.
The Lady Paddlers ended the first round with a heartbreaker against the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws. Rookies VM Lupeba and Rachel Mendoza succumbed to the tandem of El-jane Berces and Krech Lamayan, 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, in the double’s match.
The Green Paddlers gave Bazar and Manlapaz fits in the third set to go up early at 0-4. But UST’s speedy duo fired back with their block-and-attack combos to take the lead with Bazar scoring on a hard spin to punctuate the match at 11-7.
Prior the double’s match, Tiger Paddlers’ Zoren Mendiola survived Jerald Cristobal, 11-9, in the fourth set of their game. Mendiola’s tough low spin services managed to strike the gritty Cristobal out of the deuce and take the second set, 12-10.
After faltering to Cristobal’s nerve-racking short ball counters in the third, the Tiger Paddler came back with relentless drives to take the final set, 11-9.
Team captain Micahel Paña edged dominated La Salle’s Ted Yu, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6.
The women’s team could not handle the Lady Tamaraws’ fiery attacks with FEU’s Lamayan pummeling UST with five consecutive points, 1-6, in the fourth and final frame.
Lupeba’s steady forehand drive did little to hinder the Lady Tamaraws as Lamayan finally delivered the win with a killer spin to cap the match for FEU, 4-11. Angelo Nonato P. Cabrera
