Blue Eagles take bronze in first-ever UAAP esports Valorant tilt

The Ateneo Blue Eagles Valorant team won bronze medals at the inaugural University Atheltic Association of the Philippines Esports Valorant tournament at Areté, Ateneo last Friday, 16 August.

The team comprised Joaquin Stuart de Guia, playing sentinel; Juancho Manuel Garcia, playing controller; John Michael Amador, playing initiator; Christian Emmanuel Owen, playing flex; Joaquin Stuart de Guia, playing duelist; and Juan Antonio Rosales, playing IGL and flex roles.

The team narrowly missed out on a finals appearance following a loss to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Teletigers on Friday. UST would eventually be defeated in the finals by De La Salle University (DLSU) Viridis Arcus.

The Blue Eagles Valorant team opened the tournament with a 13-4, 13-6 loss to DLSU on day one of the event. Their next game, against the Adamson University (ADU) Soaring Falcons, resulted in a tie with the Falcons taking the first map 13-9, before the Blue Eagles tied the game at 13-3.

Faced with these results, the Blue Eagles needed to regroup if they hoped to make it further in the tournament. And that's exactly what they did in their game against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, where they scored a dominant 13-7, 13-3 victory, allowing the team to advance to the semi-finals and guaranteeing them medals.

Sadly, another win, this time against UST, was not in the cards. The Teletigers ended the Blue Eagle's run with a 13-6, 13-7 win over the latter.

With this, the Blue Eagles bowed out of the UAAP esports Valorant tournament as joint bronze medal holders with the University of the Philippines, who lost to DLSU 13-2, 9-13, 13-9 in the semi-finals.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles' bronze medal in Valorant follows Paolo Medina's gold medal in NBA2k24 at the UAAP esports tournament earlier last week. Their achievements highlight the dedication and passion of these Atenean players to compete at the highest levels of esports.

AM+DG