YOUNG CORE. The Ateneo Jins enter UAAP Season 75 with a young but promising core. Photo courtesy of Raddy Mabasa.
FACING SEASONED players and battling team deficiencies, the Blue and Lady Jins fell short in the 75th UAAP Season Taekwondo Tournament at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan last September 11, 14 and 18.
The Blue Jins finished with a 2-4 win-loss standing while the Lady Jins failed to win any of their matches this season, 0-6.
A three-day slugfest
During the first day, the Blue Jins lost close fights to top teams De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas (UST), 5-2.
Marc Frigillana’s fight against La Salle became controversial with a scoring glitch during the final seconds. He initially scored three points for a turning long, but his coach protested because it was supposed to be a four-point move. However, the La Salle coaching staff contested this claim by Ateneo.
Officials granted a video replay of the play being contested by using the new cameras especially installed for the season. Unfortunately, the referee deducted the four points originally given to Frigillana, therefore causing him to lose the game.
On the second day, the University of the Philippines (UP) and the University of the East (UE) upset the men’s team with a 5-2 card. The Blue Jins bounced back from these straight losses and redeemed themselves with a 4-3 win against Far Eastern University (FEU).
Meanwhile, the Lady Jins were denied wins by FEU and UP in discouraging 6-1 and 7-0 bouts. Team Captain Ivana Mabunay stood in as the 7th player against FEU since the ladies lacked one more competitor for the heavyweight division. She also braved the sudden death match against UP, which resulted in another heartbreaking loss.
Despite the tournament not going their way, the Lady Jins remained determined and displayed the will to win in a neck and neck competition against the National University (NU). They almost kicked their way to a win, but eventually bowed down to this year’s host school with a 4-3 score card.
They continued to struggle in the second day of the tournament in a blowout loss against La Salle, 6-0, and a close 4-3 loss to UE.
The third and final day featured more of the contrasting campaigns of the two Ateneo teams, as the Blue Jins dominated in a 5-2 win over the young NU team. The Lady Jins continued their season woes as they were swept by UST, 7-0.
“We’ve been really tagged as the underdogs. I’m not in for the medal. As long as we do our best, exceeding our normal performance, that’s good enough for me,” Mabunay said on the team’s performance.
Blue Jins Team Captain Gyle Geñoso and Joel Alejandro bagged the gold and silver medals respectively for the individual awards in the tournament. Geñoso won all of his six fights while Alejandro only lost once.
“Sobrang satisfied ako. Kaya nga ako nag-extend to fifth year kasi gusto ko talaga makuha ‘to. Lahat ng laban ko, naghabol ako sa second round, so every after game worth it talaga (I feel very fulfilled. I extended to fifth year in college because I really wanted this. I was fighting from behind in the second round so it felt really worth it after every game),” shared a proud Geñoso.
Aaron Agojo, Red Bermejo and Lhord Garganza represented the men’s team for the Poomsae Competition, where they bagged the bronze. Assistant Coach Gina Guillermo shared that the group had very good form, but the lack of power affected their performance.
Into the future
Compared to Season 74, the Blue and Lady Jins improved in terms of skill and technique. Both teams are in the rebuilding phase as their cores are made up of freshmen and sophomores who have promising and impressive fighting styles.
“I’m very happy with their performance, but there are many points to improve. They need to learn more techniques and use it for next year so they’ll have better options,” said Guillermo.
Season 75 was in many ways a first step for the young Blue and Lady Jins. With the youth of its promising players, the future is bright for Ateneo Taekwondo.
To further hone their skills, some of the Blue and Lady Jins will be heading to compete in Asian University Taekwondo Championship in Malaysia this October 9 to 14.
