World standards in UAAP table tennis

The smoke of battle has cleared in the UAAP table tennis championships and evident was the world-class conduct of hostilities at the Makati Coliseum. The Philippine Table Tennis Federation (PTTF), recognized by POC as the sport’s NSA, supervised the proceedings from start to finish with secretary-general Pong Ducanes making sure every detail was properly coordinated as tournament commissioner.

PTTF mobilized three international referees, led by Daniel Aquino Deleniana, and 30 umpires, more than half with International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) certification, for the competitions in both junior and senior divisions, male and female. La Salle sports director Nongnong Calanog was tournament director as the Taft school hosted the event. This UAAP season, Adamson hosted basketball and volleyball while other schools took care of the rest, like La Salle for table tennis, UP for swimming, Ateneo for taekwondo and judo, UE for beach volleyball and UST for cheerdancing.

PTTF president Ting Ledesma inhibited himself from supervising the matches as he was in the Ateneo coaching staff but gave his full support to the tournament. Ducanes, who has been involved in PTTF since 2012, said the staging went smoothly. “Our commitment was to take it to world standards,” said Ducanes. “First time gumamit ang UAAP ng air-conditioned venue for table tennis kasi required na ngayon ng ITTF. From set-up sa venue to lighting to providing the tables, Taraflex flooring and balls to officiating, inayos ng PTTF. Malaking pasalamat sa event partners PTTF, City of Makati, Huaching Foundation, Topcoms, PSC, Macbeth at Havaianas. Special thanks kay Makati Councilor at UAAP executive director Atty. Rebo Saguisag na alaga kami pati sa pagkain sa Makati. Yung Taraflex flooring was the same used sa 2019 SEA Games.”

The tournament was open to the public and a vaxx card was the only requirement. Tickets of P50 each were sold as a measure of crowd control and to the organizers’ surprise, one playing day brought in sales of P15,000. Last Saturday’s finals were a thrill. In the men’s division, UST downed Ateneo for the championship with the Tigers’ Alvin Sevilla bagging the MVP trophy and teammate Eljay Dan Tormis the Rookie of the Year award. In the women’s division, La Salle beat UST for the crown with the Lady Archers’ Jannah Romero winning the MVP accolade and FEU’s Aizel Mae Rom the Rookie plum. In junior boys, La Salle Zobel defeated UST for the title with Zobel’s Troy Docto as MVP and UST’s Jhiven Clamucha the top rookie. In junior girls, UST repulsed La Salle Zobel for the crown with UST’s Althea Jade Gudes taking MVP and Rookie honors.

It was the UAAP that discovered the country’s only Olympic table tennis player Ian Lariba who was the Philippine flagbearer at the 2016 Rio Games. Lariba was a three-time UAAP MVP and led La Salle to three women’s championships. She died of cancer in 2018 at the age of 23 and will always be remembered for her love of the sport, kind heart, fighting spirit and dedication to her school. Perhaps, in the near future, the UAAP may consider calling the women’s table tennis MVP trophy the Ian Lariba award in her perpetual memory.