Ateneo ladies win UAAP badminton title
-A A +AMonday, September 10, 2012
MANILA -- Ateneo de Manila capped its unbeaten season in the 75th UAAP women's badminton tournament on Sunday by nipping Far Eastern University, 3-2, in the finals at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall in Manila.
The Lady Eagles, who registered their second championship in the league, leaned on rookie Jana de De Vera after she downed Dei Duquilla, 21-15, 21-16, in the deciding singles match.
"We are very proud of her. This whole season, she really played well," said Lady Eagles coach Kennie Asuncion on de Vera, a product of Trace College in Laguna.
Ateneo finished the tournament with an immaculate 9-0 slate as it can look forward to another strong campaign in Season 76 since the Quezon City-based squad will field an intact lineup.
Meanwhile, National University is just one win away from bagging the men's title after it defeated reigning titlist Ateneo, 3-2, to avenge its loss in the championship opener.
From a 0-2 hole, the Bulldogs courtesy of Joper Escueta tamed Patrick Natividad, 19-21, 21-16, 21-11, in the deciding singles match. On Saturday, the Blue Eagles eked out a 3-0 victory in the opener after winning the first two ties.
Game 3 is set on Wednesday.
In the first singles match, reigning MVP Toby Gadi thrashed Jayson Oba-ob, 21-15, 21-13, while Justin Natividad downed Andrei Babad, 21-19, 21-13, in the second singles.
NU turned things around in the doubles play as Escueta and Aries delos Santos defeated the tandem of Gadi and Patrick Natividad, 21-15, 21-19, while Babad and Oba-ob outclassed JC Carlos and Arlo Madrid, 21-6, 21-8, to forge a decider.
The Bulldogs hold the "thrice-to-beat" championship incentive after recently sweeping the seven-game eliminations.
In other sports, taekwondo is set to begin on Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan City with University of Santo Tomas and FEU hoping to repeat as champions in the men’s and women’s division, respectively.
Swimming and table tennis events will be played in late September while judo is set to open early next month. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
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