UP Shuttlers fall to 2nd place DLSU; falls out of top 4

Court 5

Prior to this series, the University of the Philippines Badminton team was tied for 4^th with the UST Golden Shuttlers. DLSU, one of the perineal favorites to win the tournament this season, beat the UP shuttlers last Saturday to drop the shuttlers from Diliman to 5^th place. DLSU, led by Gerald Sibayan, won 4 matches in the series and only dropping the last singles match.

Men’s Singles Match 1: Gerald Sibayan (DLSU) def. Ethan Joshua Malelang (UP); 2:1

UP 0 – 1 DLSU

Philippine team member, Gerald Sibayan would fall in the first set to Ethan Malelang in a set where Malelang started strong with an 8-4 lead and ended up winning the set 21-17. Sibayan would again start slow in the 2^nd game but would come back to win the set 21-17 to tie things up for the two shuttlers. The deciding game, however, saw a fatigued Joshua Malelang, not be able to return the short drop returns of Sibayan during the entire game. This resulted to a 21-11 routing of Malelang and a Sibayan win.

Aggregate Score: Sibayan 42 – Malelang 28

Total Match Time: 42 mins

Men’s Singles Match 2: John Kenneth Monterubio (DLSU) def. Wilson Joseph Lopez (UP); 2:0

UP 0 – 2 DLSU

John Kenneth Monterubio would storm to an 11-3 lead during the 11^th point break of the first game. Wilson Lopez would not be able to gain any momentum in the game falling to Monterubio 21 – 14. The 2^nd game saw Kenneth Monterubio exchange leads with Lopez mid-set. With the score at 16-14 in favor of Wilson Lopez, Kenneth Monterubio would take advantage of two faulty returns from Lopez to churn in a 5-0 run to be two points away from match point. Monterubio would win the set and the match via another faulty return from Lopez.

Aggregate Score: Monterubio 42 – Lopez 33

Total Match Time: 55 mins

Men’s Doubles Match 1: Carlos Antonio Cayanan and Gerald Sibayan (DLSU) def. Ethan Malelang and Lorenzo Miguel Leonardo (UP); 2:0

UP 0 – 3 DLSU (DLSU wins)

Gerald Sibayan and Carlos Cayanan, arguably the top-2 pair in the Men’s Doubles Division in this season of the UAAP, displayed excellent coordination and court-control in their masterful beating of the UP pairing of Ethan Malelang and Lorenzo Leonardo. The DLSU pair would defeat their opponents in two quick sets with scores of 21-14 in the 1^st and 21-10 in the deciding set.

Aggregate Score: Malelang (13) and Leonardo (11) 24 – Cayanan (27) and Sibayan (15)

Total Match Time: 23 mins

Men’s Doubles Match 2: John Kenneth Monterubio and Prince Joshua Monterubio (DLSU) def. Carl Kristian Clemente and Joaquin Raphael Deato (UP); 2:0

UP 0 – 4 DLSU (DLSU wins)

The Monterubio’s just keep winning the closest of games. In their match with the UP team of CK Clemente and Joaquin Deato, John Kenneth Monterubio would take the lead, credited in scoring 27 points for his team. The brother pairing would win both games with scores of 22-20 and 21-19.

Aggregate Score: K. Monterubio (27) and P. Monterubio (15) 42 – Clemente (20) and Deato (19)

Total Match Time: 40 mins

Men’s Singles Match 3: Lorenzo Leonardo (UP) def. Carlos Cayanan (DLSU); 2:0

UP 1 – 4 DLSU (DLSU wins)

In a clash of two top-30 ranked shuttlers, it was Lorenzo Leonardo who came out with a win over Carlos Cayanan last Saturday. The highest scoring set in this young UAAP badminton season was witnessed in the first game of this match. Cayanan and Leonardo would go point-for-point in the early goings of the game. With the score at 15-14 in favor of Leonardo, Cayanan would make a 4-point rally from drops and excellent returns to gain the lead 18-15. Cayanan would be up 20-18 to give him the match point. However, the feisty Leonardo would tie the game at 20 with an excellent drop. They would again go point-for-point with a majority due to return errors.With Cayanan leading 24-23, Leonardo would make a final push to rally for 3 straight points including a game-clinching smash to seal the deal and give Leonardo the 1^st set. The 2^nd set would see Lorenzo Leonardo blast to 15-10 lead midway through the 2^nd set. The game would be close until Leonardo would be able to break-away with a score of 21-18.

Aggregate Score: Leonardo 47 – Cayanan 42

Total Match Time: 42 mins

Total Games Won: UP 3 – 8 DLSU