The Varsitarian

THE UST Tiger Paddlers and the Junior Paddlers kept the medal rush going after reaping one gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the second Binay Cup, held at the Kolisyum ng Bayan, Makati, on June 26 and 27.

Leading the championship hunt for UST was co-captain Cristian Vicente, who bagged the men’s singles non-rank division title with a 3-1 conquest of Jerome Remaneses.

Vicente repulsed UAAP Season 71 Rookie of the Year Zoren Mendiola with a 3-1 rout in the semifinals.

Tiger Paddlers found themselves battling against each other in the quarterfinals as Vicente did not go easy on his teammate Martin Diaz, 3-1, while Mendiola clobbered team captain Michael Paña, 3-0.

Despite the stunning loss, Paña managed to finish third in the men’s open.

UST’s Christian Abendan also landed in the third spot after surrendering to the College of Saint Benilde’s Darryl Fradejas, 3-1, in the boys’ 17-under division.

In the quarterfinals, Abendan crossed paths with Walden Ledesma, his opponent in the STIGA- UP Chancellor’s Cup last April.

Abendan, who controlled the tempo early on with his intense drives and services, sent his opponent to a straight-set beating, 11-5, 13-11, 11-4.

Junior Paddlers Norielle Pantojo and Via Bonzon came home with second-place honors. Pantojo bowed down to the Arellano University’s Michael Villamor in the boys’ 14-under division while Bonzon fell to Celine Ching of the Filipino Chinese-Table Tennis Club in the girls’ 12- under division.

Season 71 Rookie of the Year Princess Masong captured the bronze despite a 3-1 trouncing at the hands of the University of the East’s Donna Gamilla in the girls’ 17-under division.

“We did not focus on winning the championship. My goal was only to give them exposure and see how well they would play their game,” Tiger Paddlers’ coach Henberd Ortalla said.

Ortalla said his players’ lackadaisical performance in the tournament might have been caused by muscle strains because of their weight-lift exercises. Angelo Nonato P. Cabrera