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UAAP Season 87 Badminton Standings
Men's:
Ateneo 1-0
NU 1-0
UP 1-0
UST 0-1
DLSU 0-1
AdU 0-1
Women's:
Ateneo 1-0
NU 1-0
UP 1-0
DLSU 0-1
UST 1-0
AdU 0-1
Ties on Sunday
Men's
8 a.m. - Ateneo vs DLSU / AdU vs UST / NU vs UP
Women's
1 p.m. - Ateneo vs DLSU / AdU vs UST / UP vs NU
ATENEO De Manila University's drive for a fifth consecutive championship was opened with its 24th consecutive win dating back to the UAAP Season 81 semifinals, by fending off the gritty Adamson University, 4-1, on the opening day of the Season 87 Women's Badminton tournament on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall in Manila.
It was team captain and Smash Pilipinas standout Mika De Guzman who rose to the occasion for the Blue Eagles, teaming up with Feeby Ferrer in a 21-17, 21-9 work of Justine Barasona and Jennifer Ondol in the second doubles match after the Lady Falcons took the first doubles rubber.
Camille Buagas and Graziel Cabriga took one for Adamson after a 75-minute tussle against Althea Fuentespina and Missy Cervantes, 21-14, 19-21, 21-16, that necessitated the De Guzman-Ferrer heroics.
"Well, again, as expected naman. Kami, we're expecting na there are individual or pair na magsha-shine in every team. So, alam naman namin 'yun and it happened na we can lose a few matches. We just kumbaga kept our focus and our goals intact lang; every team tie, the goal, of course, is to win it. We'll just keep it that simple," said Ateneo head coach Kennie Asuncion.
"It's the first day and we expected naman na may good rallies and some na we hope na could-have-been better rallies, but that's how the game goes. We'll take it as it is and to improve whatever we need to improve , and i-hone pa naman 'yung strong assets namin," said the current program head of the national team.
Rookie Althea Dawn Ocampo opened the scoring for the reigning four-peat champions with a 21-11, 21-13 take of Adamson's Aleyha Villanueva in the first singles match. De Guzman, the MVP for the past three seasons already, then doubled the advantage with a 30-minute clinical finish in the following singles rubber past Mariane Barcelona, 21-9, 21-4.
Angel Valle then completed the rout with a 21-15, 22-20 battle over Aubrey Fuerte in the final singles contest.
University of the Philippines and National University fashioned out similar 4-1 wins of their own against De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas, respectively.
Philippine Badminton Open 2024 women's doubles finalists Kimberly Lao and Patricia De Dios pulled through for the Fighting Maroons in a 23-21, 25-23 thriller that lasted for 44 minutes against Jacqueline Pantoja and Viana Antonio in the second doubles match.
On the other hand, Jeya Von Pinlac and Andrian Songcuan needed three games and 68 minutes to outlast Rhafi Santos and Jennifer Saladaga, 15-21, 21-17, 21-10, to get the first win for the Lady Bulldogs.
Third-year Althea Gonzalez came from a first-game setback against Antonio to put UP on the board, 16-21, 22-20, 21-16 in a marathon match that went for one hour and 27 minutes. Lady Tuario then leveled the tie for DLSU with a 21-17, 21-11 take on rookie Anielka Paz.
That was all the Lady Shuttlers had managed as Smash Pilipinas training pool member Sushmita Ramos took care of both her assignments.
The third-year Fighting Maroon paired with Dianne Libaton in a decisive 21-16, 21-13 first doubles match before closing the day with a 21-17, 21-14 conquest of Ghiselle Bautista.
Ysabel Amora and Sarah Joy Barredo set up the win for Pinlac and Songcuan after decisive wins in the first two singles matches. Amora, the PBO 2024 runner-up in the women's singles, fashioned out a 21-11, 21-14 sweep of Patricia De Leon, while Barredo took care of Reshane Nicor, 21-16, 21-10.
De Leon took one back for the Female Shuttlers, teaming up with Marielle Alvarez in a match that was halted twice due to roof leaks, but eventually ended after 33 minutes, 21-15, 11-21, 21-15 over Barredo and Gwyneth Desacola.
The other win by the Lady Bulldogs came from the third singles victory of Karyll Rio, 21-8, 21-11, over Charlize Belen.
NU and UP will battle for the possible lead when they take on each other tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the same Malate venue.
Ateneo will look to extend its winning streak when it faces rival DLSU, while UST and Adamson will go for the first win in their contest.
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