The 15th Uni-Orient Interscholastic Cup winners:
Champion: Li Jiayue (Beijing University) in black/blue shirt
2nd Place: Ryan Rodney Jacolo (College of St. Benilde) in green shirt
3rd Place: Francis Bendebel (National University) in red shirt
John Russell Misal (National University) in blue shirt
(photo courtesy of TATAND)
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Men's Open Team Event: 2nd runner-up
The Philippine Airforce Team composed of Nashspinner,
Michael Dalumpines, Adolfo Bazar, and Leo De Leon.
(photo courtesy of TATAND)
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NASHSPINNER'S no. 1 fans
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NASHSPINNER is powered by
JOOLA Rosskopf Force Blade
and JOOLA Rhyzm Rubbers
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MANILA, PHI — The recently concluded 15th Uni-Orient Cup, held on Apil 7-8, 2018 at the San Beda College was, easily, the largest Interscholastic Table Tennis Event in the Philippines. Upwards of 140 schools, 300 teams, and 1200 players participated in the tournament played on 40 tables in San Beda's two (2) basketball gyms. Throw in the coaches, parents, friends, and regular audience and we were looking at a crowd of possibly 2,000 to 3,000 people filling up the venue.
Former PBA star and currently Philippine Sports Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, Former Table Tennis World Champion Liu Wei (CHN), and Xu Zhongrong, chairman of Philippine Entertainment East Tourism Co., Ltd. graced the event with their presence.
Watch out for the first Professional Table Tennis Training Center in the Philippines!
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Beijing Was Just Too Tough
College Men's Event. Ryan Rodney Jacolo (De La Salle - College of St. Benilde) dominated his local college counterparts to earn a spot in the Finals. He went against Li Jiayue (Beijing University) who won the Championship. The Chinese paddler, who owns a very nasty banana receive, has not given up a single set in his Manila stint. Nashspinner managed to get a deuce in a couple of sets but has never gotten over the hump.
Li Jiayue (Beijing University) beat Bolante (San Beda College) and Bendebel (National University) to secure the first Finals slot.
Nashspinner (De La Salle - College of St. Benilde) thwarted Bazar (University of Santo Tomas), Cabrido (De La Salle University), and Misal (National University) to take the other Finals slot.
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College Women's Event. Beijing University's Zhang Qinghua was the champion. But, Rosejean Fadol (Far Eastern University), despite losing in the Finals, almost pulled off a miracle.
It was a great start for Fadol who shocked everyone by storming to a 2-0 lead against the Chinese chopper. It was a hard-hitting first 2 sets but Rosejean was looking tough as an amazon. When she led in the 3rd set, it seemed that something impossible was about to happen. The mere possibility that a Pinay paddler was about to score a win against a Chinese player in a Table Tennis Championship Match spurred the crowd into a frenzy.
Zhang Qinghua, although looking spent, had no intention of giving up. Maybe it was the pressure of losing to a non-Chinese player, maybe it was the desire to conquer, or maybe both. She painstakingly worked point by point—played diligent defense, relentlessly killing loose balls, tenaciously countering Fadol's repeated attacks— and in a steady and painful turn of events for Rosejean, won the third set. The standing was at 1-2.
Fadol manage to get a matchpoint at 13-12 in set #4 and the crowd erupted even louder—just a hair away from scoring an upset! But not quite, Zhang Qinghua's focus was rock solid. She took the fourth set making the match even at 2-2.
There was electricity in the air! The deciding fifth set was full of excitement and nervousness at the same time with the crowd screaming in a mixture of elation and agony after every point. Zhang Qinghua pulled away in the midgame but Fadol clawed back, tied the set at 9-9. Everyone seemed to stop breathing...
Zhang Qinghua bombarded Fadol with all kinds of balls—hard chops, dead pushes, topspin attacks, sidespin counters— getting back the lead and, eventually, the victory.
It was a mixture of disappointment, relief, and a lot of speculations after the match. "What if..." but as the saying goes in sports, it's not over until its over... and you can never, ever, count the Chinese out of a Table Tennis match.
That match was certainly the tournament's clincher, nothing short of fantastic!
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The Organizers
The 15th Uni-Orient Table Tennis Interscholastic Championship was organized by the premier Table Tennis Club — TATAND. Congratulations to Mr. Charlie Lim, Mr. Philip Uy and party for the extremely successful event.
Nothing but the best from TATAND when it comes to Table Tennis!
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