A soldier’s first experience of being under fire in the heat of battle is certainly an experience never forgotten. Often referred to as the baptism of fire, this endeavor mirrored what the Blue and Lady Jins endured in the recently concluded UAAP Taekwondo Championships.
Hosted by Far Eastern University (FEU), the two-day tournament was once again only a six-team slugfest due to the continued absence of National U and Adamson. The young jins, comprised mostly of rookies and first year players, kicked off their campaign on September 13 at the San Juan Arena and concluded festivities four days later on the 17th.
Eager to earn respect, the Blue Jins had a great opportunity early on when they faced traditional powers University of Santo Tomas (UST) and De La Salle University (DLSU) in their first two matches. An upset was not in the cards during opening day though, as the boys were humbled with back-to-back 1-6 losses by eventual champion UST and first runner-up DLSU.
Similarly, the Lady Jins had a tough first assignment, facing three-time defending champions UST. Succumbing to a more experienced opponent, the women’s team lost their season opener, 0-7. Later on, the ladies from Loyola Heights bounced back with a better effort in their second game but still came up short, losing 2-5 to the University of the Philippines (UP).
Despite the less than ideal start to Season 74, the jins were able to showcase their talent in the Poomsae competition—a performance of pre-arranged sequences of taekwondo techniques exhibiting speed, energy, precision and control. The event was the silver lining for Ateneo on opening day as they placed in almost all the categories, with Frances Alarilla gaining silver and Raymond Bermejo receiving bronze in both the individual and mixed pair categories. Similarly, Bermejo, Radley Dizon and Mark Frigillana seized bronze in the men’s team category.
Hoping to turn things around on the second day of competition, the men’s team took on UP while the women’s team went up against FEU, the eventual champions. Both teams had little luck in trying to stop their losing streaks as they were defeated soundly by their counterparts, 0-7 apiece.
With pressure to win starting to mount, the boys in blue answered the call in their match against the University of the East. Finally showing their known potential, the young Ateneo squad dismantled their opponents, 6-1, to breakthrough on the win column. The cold Lady Jins, however, could not capitalize on their opportunity as they failed to get one more point to secure a win against UE, falling 3-4.
The Blue and Lady Jins closed out their season with a pair of losses against FEU and DLSU to finish the season 5th and 6th respectively.
Although the season was a letdown in terms of team standings, women’s team captain Ivana Mabunay confirmed that this year’s tournament can still be considered a success since it allowed the jins to learn from their mistakes and gain much-needed experience.
In building a title contender, one must sometimes start from the bottom and this season the Ateneo Taekwondo Team has done exactly that by setting up a solid foundation for future success.
For now, the growing pains will do, but being better equipped and with a full UAAP season under their belts, much is to be expected from the Ateneo Jins in Season 75.
