IT WAS a lazy Saturday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan; the men’s team cheered as the women fought against University of the East. After a good half hour, the Lady Jins surrendered to UE and returned to the bleachers.
Team Ateneo had not a single victory to their names.
Hounded by injuries, the Ateneo jins failed to place in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Taekwondo tournament held Sept. 28 and Oct. 2.
“We didn’t have a good start,” Coach Jobet Morales said after losing all their games on day one of competition.
Heavyweight Harold Gozon cut his brow before the competition even started. This was followed by senior Joaqui Mendoza dislocating his thumb in the match against De La Salle University, and rookie Renz Unson who injured his hamstring. Lady Jin Maki Falgui also had to sit out of the tournament due to severe dysmenorrhea.
By the last game, the men’s team was already missing two players while the women’s team lacked one representative.
The highly-favored men’s team settled for fifth place, posting their only win against University of the East.
“It was a bad performance,” men’s captain Mark Dizon said of their 1-4 win-loss record, “individually we got better, but the other teams improved even more.”
Dizon said changes in their lineup and lack of competition exposure affected their performance. He added that rookies Unson and JL Rivera, who were recruited from Physical Education classes, delivered but their opponents were more experienced.
The women’s team, on the other hand, finished last after losing their final match to University of the Philippines to cap off their winless 0-5 record.
“We’re short on players in the three heaviest weight divisions so we were forced to play in our [undesired] weight division. Plus half the team are rookies,” Women’s Captain Ivana Mabunay said. Mabunay herself had to gain 5 kilos for this year’s competition.
“It was evident to me [when I chose Ateneo] that there would be problems like that. I went here for academics. We’re making the best out of what we have,” Mabunay said.
The only bright light for the Eagles were Dizon and Mabunay, both winning silver medals, and Gyle Geñoso who copped the bronze in the individual category.
“Of course I’m happy for my personal achievement. But at the same time it’s sad because the coaches and officials expected us to be better this year. We didn’t just fail to meet their expectations, we failed to maintain our standing. It’s disappointing,” Dizon said as the Men’s team ranked third last year.
Next year’s the Lady Jins will be losing the services of veterans Falgui and Anna Lagman, who are graduating. But still, the Ateneo Jins believe that they will be able to redeem themselves next season. According to Morales, the only consistent players of tournament, Dizon and Geñoso, will still be in the team next year.
“And the newcomers this year, they didn’t win but they showed a good performance. For sure they will still improve,” Morales said.
Dizon added, “Tututukan kami ni coach niyan sa off-season. We’ll most probably join all off-season competitions to prepare for next year.” (Coach will focus more on our training in the off-season.)
And once they do redeem themselves next season, then this year’s loss will prove not to be in vain.
