The University of the East Red Warriors narrowly held off the Adamson University Soaring Falcons with a team tie score of 3-2 earlier today at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
This is the Red Warriors’ first win of the season after being swept by UST during their first team tie. The Falcons, on the other hand, drop to a 0-2 record with their first loss courtesy of the defending champions, NU Bulldogs.
UE opened up the team tie with a win as Angelo David outhustled Joshua Antonio of Adamson in just two games, 21-15 and 21-13 respectively. The first game was initially close with the score tied up at six apiece, but David picked up the pace and rallied to get win the first game. Antonio never gained momentum while David continued his balanced attack coming into the second game to finish off the Soaring Falcon.
Elben Concha of Adamson then tied things up with his win against Red Warrior Benjamin Silva. It was a pretty close first game, as extra points were needed to decide the victor. Concha was the first player to score two in a row to claim the opening game, 24-22. The Falcon gained momentum and cruised to the victory with a score of 21-8 in the second and final game.
The duo of Kenet Cruz and Arman Manlalangit gave back the lead to UE with their win against Joshua Antonio and Jelo Iquina of Adamson. Anonio and Iquina had trouble returning the sharp attacks of UE the whole match with Cruz and Manlangit finishing off the game, 21-12, 21-13 in the first and second set respectively.
Elden Conchea and Gerloth Delizo then avenged Adamson, snatching the win against Red Warriors Angelo David and Clarence Camacho in two sets, 21-17 and 21-12. Conchea displayed great placing to keep the first game close for his team. Adamson then pulled away in the latter part to take the opening game courtesy of a sharp smash by Delizo to score the game point. Adamson picked up where they left off to dominate the second game and tie the match-up once again.
UE finally escaped with the win after a huge comeback by Arman Manlalangit against Gerloth Delizo in the final match. Delizo looked confident coming off a win in his last match and took the first game from Manlangit, 15-21. However fatigue might have been a factor for Delizo as he dropped the next two sets to Manlangit, 21-13 and 21-10.