Table Tennis Blogs: September 2014

(Photo courtesy of ncaa.org.ph)

DLS-CSB Blazers - NCAA 90 Table Tennis Men's Division Champion.

DLS-CSB Blazers Men's Team:

L-R: Joshua Que, Serknight Benoya, Serge Benoya, Jr.,

Coach Bong Palermo, Koby Cabrido, Ryan Rodney A. Jacolo, Ryan Sy.

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(Photo courtesy of ncaa.org.ph)

Freshman Ryan Rodney A. Jacolo (Nashspinner)

wins the Most Valuable Player award in his maiden NCAA tournament for the DLS-CSB Blazers. ANIMO BENILDE!

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(Photo courtesy of ncaa.org.ph)

DLS-CSB Coach Bong Palermo (3rd from the right)

won the Men's Division Coach of the Year Award.

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MANILA — The NCAA 90 concluded its two-week long Table Tennis Championships on September 25, 2014 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Philippines.

The College of St. Benilde Blazers, mentored by Coaches Bong Palermo and Susan Tayag, emerged Champion in the Men's Division taking back the crown from the San Beda Red Lions after five years.

Nashspinner (Ryan Rodney A. Jacolo), freshman, bagged the most coveted MVP award.

DLS-CSB ManCom member Manuel Raymund Castellano and Sports Director Stephen Fernandez were there to provide moral support to the CSB Team.

The Blazers' Championship Trail
The DLS-CSB Men's Team was lossless in the first round, earning the first slot in the Finals.

View the video:
Game highlights: NASHSPINNER (DLS-CSB) x Manlapaz (SBC)

DLS-CSB bet Nashspinner during an NCAA 90 first-round action.

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Qualifying into the Magic 4 were College of St. Benilde, San Beda College, Colegio De San Juan De Letran and Emilio Aguinaldo College. These four advancing teams will battle for the second round championship. The winner will meet CSB in the championship round.

Then it was Red Lions' turn to dominate the Magic 4 playoffs with a 3-0 score. Earning the second Finals slot, they will face the CSB Blazers in the Finals.

Winner Takes All
The championship match was played in the afternoon of September 25, 2014 in a sparkling ITTF-standard showcourt provided by the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) led by its dashing and tireless President — Mr. Ting Ledesma.

(Photo courtesy of TATAP)

The ITTF-standard showcourt for NCAA 90.

ABC-5 provided media coverage.

(Photo courtesy of ncaa.org.ph)

TATAP President, Mr. Ting Ledesma received an award

from the NCAA90 organizing committee.

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Below is Coach Bong Palermo's line-up for the Championship match:

Match #1 Singles: Serge Benoya, Jr.
Serge went up against the Red Lions' top paddler, Raymond Manlapaz, in the first match. Struggling in the previous rounds, he had already lost to Mon twice and definitely had a score to settle.

Early in the match, he was going toe-to-toe with the San Beda ace in BH drilling patterns but his balls kept on dying at the net when he goes for his quick FH attacks. The errors were hurting the DLS-CSB player.

Already leading with a lot of winners, Mon was also making a living off Serge's dilemma. Serge's offense was going nowhere and he again took a beating and was miserably down 0-2.

However, halfway through the slowly-slipping-away third set, and match, Serge reversed gears and shifted to a blocking defense. And why not! The young man is one clever blocker. He stopped the bleeding but his back was against the wall. The objective was to survive Set #3.

Mon rained a barrage of fast loops on the blazer. Serge was proving he's got steel nerves too and was blocking them brilliantly, getting the Red Lion off balance, and stealing the attack with his favorite quick FH topspin near the table... and they started connecting. And survive he did! He took the third set and lived to fight the fourth. Standing at 1-2. The DLS-CSB corner erupted.

Serge maintained the strategy, blocking nicely, patiently selecting his counterattacks, and steadily getting his points. Mon looked like he was tiring and started committing attack errors when engaged in longer rallies, missing his shots after the 7th ball and above.

Now Coach Bong Palermo's game plan was coming into focus. "PLAY A DECENT DEFENSE, AND YOUR OFFENSE WILL FOLLOW". Basic, classic, and downright effective! And Serge was adjusting superbly. He won the fourth set tying his match at 2-2. DLS-CSB was in a frenzy!

In the 5th and deciding set, the DLS-CSB bet was steaming hot and posted, perhaps, his biggest win in the tournament. A classic come-from-behind victory!

Team Standing: DLS-CSB led SBC, 1-0.

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Match #2 Singles: Nashspinner
Playing his usual attacking game, Nashspinner won his match against SBC's Bolante in straight sets, 3-0.

View the video:
Game highlights: NASHSPINNER (DLS-CSB) x Bolante (SBC)

Team Standing: DLS-CSB led SBC, 2-0.

Nashspinner played with a Joola Rosskopf Force blade

and Joola Rhyzm rubbers in the NCAA Season 90

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Match #3 Doubles: Ryan Sy / Koby Cabrido
"A BRICK WALL!" That was what the DLS-CSB Duo were in the whole series. The lefty (Sy)/righty (Cabrido) tandem was simply immovable. They were easily the best Doubles combination in the tournament. Never losing a single match since the end of Round 1, they completely dominated Match #3 of the Team Event format.

(Photo courtesy of ncaa.org.ph)

DLS-CSB Doubles: Ryan Sy & Koby Cabrido

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Both players were natural attackers and there was simply no way to stop them once their attack patterns started rolling.

They beat the SBC pair in straight sets and sealed the victory for their team.

Team Standing: CSB beat SBC, 3-0.

(Photo courtesy of ncaa.org.ph)