Ateneo holds off UP in women's badminton

c/o UAAP

Ateneo de Manila remained undefeated in Women's Badminton on Saturday afternoon at the badminton courts of Centro Atletico in Quezon City, fending off the University of the Philippines, 3-2.

Chanelle Lunod clinched the tie for the Blue Eagles in the final singles match, defeating Aldreeen Concepcion, 21-13 21-12.

The defending two-time Most Valuable Player shared afterwards, "We just wanted to treat this tie like any normal tie we had and like the past few games that we played para hindi kami ma-pressure, so we would be able to play our game."

The Fighting Maroons drew first blood with Anthea Gonzalez outlasting Jochelle Alvarez, 16-21 21-17 21-9. Mika de Guzman then got the defending champions on the board with a 21-8 21-7 victory over Jaja Andres.

Ateneo took the lead after Lunod and Alvarez kicked off doubles action by winning over Lea Inlayo and Susmita Ramos, 21-17 21-16, but UP would knot things up again with Gonzalez teaming up with team captain Andrea Abalos to trip up the duo of De Guzman and Jellane De Vera, 9-21 21-16 21-17.

The other matches saw De La Salle and National University take care of their respective opposition.

Mia Manguilimotan took charge of the Lady Green Shuttlers against Adamson, winning her two matches as they swept the Lady Falcons, 5-0. The sophomore defeated Camille Buagas, 21-10 21-12 in singles play, then followed that with a doubles victory alongside Jaqueline Pantoja after their opponents Ivy Plata and Jam Ching were forced to retire while trailing in the second set, 12-6.

As for the Lady Bulldogs, they clinched their tie against the University of Santo Tomas in the second doubles, with Jeya Pinlac and Alysa Desacola defeating Elij Pena and Clara Ignacio, 21-15 21-17 in the second doubles match-up. NU would finish with a 4-1 victory.

Action resumes on Sunday afternoon, with Ateneo facing NU and UP against DLSU, with UST and Adamson seeking their first win in Season 85 against each other.