Ateneo, NU shuttlers remain unbeaten

MANILA, Philippines - Defending men’s champion Ateneo and National University posted a pair of 4-1 victories over their respective rivals to firm up their bids in the UAAP Season 75 badminton tournament at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall yesterday.

The Blue Eagles demolished the Far Eastern University Tams, 4-1, while the Bulldogs disposed of the La Salle Archers via the same score.

Ateneo and NU thus remain the only unbeaten teams with three victories entering the halfway mark of the single-round elims.

In other matches, University of the Philippines routed University of the East, 4-1, while University of Santo Tomas blanked Adamson, 5-0. 

The Fighting Maroons and the Growling Tigers are in joint third with 2-1 slates.

Reigning MVP Toby Gadi set the tone for the Eagles rout as he fashioned out a 21-8, 21-15 win over Wilfredo Amoroso in the first singles while Patrick Natividad took only 20 minutes to dispose of John Christian Mendez, 21-11, 21-9, in second singles.

Gadi and Justin Natividad then clinched the tie for Ateneo with a 21-17, 21-12 victory over Amoroso and Ian Bautista in the first doubles. 

In the third singles, Justin Natividad crushed Diosdado Abangan, 21-10, 21-10.

The Tamaraws’ only win was in second doubles, with Mendez and Nico Saquin defeating Raphael Alonso and Arlo Madrid, 21-19, 21-14.

NU ace Joper Escueta repulsed JC Clarito in the second set to hammer out a 21-10, 24-22 win in the first singles, while Aries delos Santos and Jayson Oba-ob needed three sets to outlast Ronel Estanislao and Lance Bautista, 15-21, 22-20, 21-17, in the first doubles.

Escueta and Andrei Babad sealed the deal for NU by beating Carlos Cayanan and Gerald Sibayan in the second doubles, 21-16, 21-12.  The Bulldogs’ Oba-ob bucked an opening set loss to turn back Estanislao, 19-21, 21-19, 21-16, in the third singles.

The Archers’ lone victory came from John Kenneth Monterubio, a 11-21, 21-9, 21-12 winner over Babad in second singles.

FEU and La Salle slipped to 1-2.  The Red Warriors and the Falcons, meanwhile, remain winless in three starts.