By Anthony Divinagacia

Manila – UST and FEU swept the UAAP Season 72 taekwondo competition yesterday, posting identical 5-0 win-loss records to bag the men’s and women’s titles before an overflow crowd at the UST gym.

The UST male jins finished ahead of 4-1 toting LaSalle and Ateneo which shared the same 3-2 record with FEU but had 17 individual wins against the Morayta-based squad’s 15.

“We were blessed,” UST coach Dindo Simpao said after his wards outlasted Ateneo, 4-3. “Despite falling short of winning the women’s title I’m still glad that were able to get a back-to-back title in the men’s division. Our hardwork has paid off.”

On the distaff side, the FEU lady jins scored a 4-3 humdinger in their final assignment against UST, denying the “six-peat” UAAP champions a seventh straight title. The loss was UST’s second following a 2-3 upset by UP in the preliminary bouts last Sept. 16.

“Beating a tough team like UST has always been a challenge to us,” FEU coach Veronica Domingo said. “But I knew from the very start that we had good chance of taking the championship with the kind of heart and skill the girls have shown in the entire tournament.”

The UST lady jins actually tied La Salle and UP at second with similar 3-2 win-loss ledgers but chalked up 28 individual wins to earn the bridesmaids ticket anew. La Salle wound up third with 23 individual wins, compared to the 21 solo notchers of State U.

Back-to-back titles

Armed with a 4-0 card going into final day of hostilities, the UST male jins looked poised to steamroll its Ateneo counterparts but the Eagles held their ground, surprising the five-time UAAP champions with three straight victories to jumpstart the match, 3-0, in favor of the Katipunan outfit.

Ateneo finweight Gyle Michael Genoso nipped UST’s Nicole Mapilisan, 2-1, while fellow Thomasians John Paul Garcia and Paul Romero yielded to blue-and-white campaigners Mark Reynald Genoson (0-3) and Kavin Nicole Antonio (2-6) in the fly and bantamweight divisions, respectively.

But featherweight Dane Pio de Roda dabbed the bleeding for UST as he pummeled Joaquin Mendoza to submission, 8-1, which set the black-gold-white unit’s comeback bid in motion.

UST then went on to knot the contest at 3 wins apiece as lightweight Ernest John Mendoza and welterweight Butch Morrison prevailed in their respective outings against Wendell Barle (1-0) and Harvey Hsieh (6-2).

Season 72 MVP Marlon Avenido delivered the haymaker for UST as he cashed in on the make-or-break seventh match with an 8-3 thumping of a hapless Harold Gordon to keep the Espana-based jins’ unblemished slate intact en route to a back-to-back title.

“We really wanted to retain the title this season because our long-term goal is to achieve another ‘five-peat’. Even when we were down at the start of the match, we knew we can always get back because our core is composed of national team members,” said Avenido, a third-year Commerce student.

The national team members who saw action for UST were Romero, Mendoza, Morrison and Avenido. Meanwhile, UAAP newcomer Jose Anthony Soriano of UST was named Rookie of the Year in the men’s division.

The men’s morning face-offs saw Ateneo upend UP, 4-3 and La Salle repulse FEU, 5-2, before nosing out UP, 4-3.

In the women’s virtual title showdown, FEU also negotiated the full route before waylaying a stubborn UST crew via a hard-earned 4-3 decision.

UST built a 2-0 lead capped by a pair of victories from finweight Monica Reyeg against women’s Rookie of the Year Winlove Dela Cerna (5-4) and flyweight Caryn Pilongo over Precious Malit (4-0).

But FEU bantamweight bet Karla Alava retaliated with a 6-1 manhandling of UST’s Aphrodite Brillantes before Thomasian Kricia Jereza humbled Ashiel Vedana, 5-2 in their featherweight clash.

Jereza’s win however proved to be the last for UST as FEU annexed the remaining fights. Trixia Lagunzad edged Emron Mae Golding, 2-1; women’s MVP Richelle Dinolan blanked Izel Masungsong, 2-0; and Marifi Gadit subdued Camille Manalo, 3-1.

Early in the day, the FEU ladies walloped Ateneo, 6-1; UP whitewashed UE, 7-0 and UE ripped La Salle, 7-0.

UST also emerged on top of the juniors’ heap thanks to an impressive 4-0 record. FEU (3-1) and Ateneo (2-2) placed second and third, respectively. High school standout Jerry Del Rosario took the MVP honors while Clint Ferrer received the Rookie of the Year plum.

 

September 20th, 2009 by Alder T. Almo