THE UST Shuttlers settled for two silver medals and a bronze in the MVP Sports Foundation-Bingo Bonanza Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) tournament at the Pohang Badminton Center in Bacolod City last June 3 to 5.
But head coach Noli Cajefe said the finish was a bit of an achievement for UST, considering a tough field that included an RP team-powered Ateneo squad.
“It was a tough fight for us. But the results were just okay for at least some of them were able to enter the quarterfinals out of how many professional players in the country. There’s really superiority,” he said.
UST’s lineup was composed of the the UAAP Season 73 men’s badminton champion team of Peter Magnaye, Benjude Cajefe, RJ Ormilla, and Renz Vivas. It also included Ana Patricia Barredo and Pia Lynn Fabros.
The 17-year-old Barredo earned the first silver for UST in the Under-19 girl’s singles division. She burned De La Salle University’s Flo Lamigo in a stiff semi-final game, 21-9, 15-21, 21-17, to force a finals spot.
But she fell against Bianca Carlos of the Golden Shuttle Foundation in the title match, 10-21, 15-21.
Barredo teamed up with national team player Paul Vivas to pocket a silver medal in the open-mixed doubles against the duo of former Tiger Kevin Dalisay and Fabros, 21-17, 21-17.
The Barredo-Vivas tandem fell short in the finals and faltered against the Ateneo-La Salle pair of Malvinne Alcala and Ronel Estanislao,18-21, 12-21.
Magnaye snared a bronze medal in the open men’s singles, smashing Philip Escueta of National University in the quarterfinals, 21-13, 21-18, but he succumbed to Golden Shuttle-Ateneo’s Antonio Gadi in the semi-finals, 18-21, 6-21.
In the doubles match-up, Magnaye and Ormilla joined forces and entered the quarterfinals, but only to lose against Iloilo Valiant’s Francis Espanola and Ivan Rey Nery, 8-21, 9-21.
The Vivas-Cajefe tandem also reached the quarterfinals but surrendered to national team players Aries delos Santos and Gabriel Villanueva, 22-24, 10-21.
Magnaye suffered a three-set defeat, 11-21, 21-18, 17-21, against Ormilla in the open men’s match-up.
Simliar was the fate of Cajefe and Vivas, who suffered a five-set setback against Prima’s Jose Carlos Benipayo and Jaime Junio Jr. in the open men’s doubles, 15-21, 20-22 and 21-15, 18-21, 18-21. Alexis U. Cerado
