THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles garnered mixed results on the first day of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines taekwondo tournament on Tuesday, October 13 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Ateneo de Manila University.

The blue jins started the day off with a 2-5 loss to the defending champions, University of Santo Tomas (UST), with the two winning efforts coming from Aaron Agojo and Joel Alejandro.

A narrow 4-3 victory against University of the Philippines (UP), meanwhile, brightened the spirits of the Blue and White. Marc Frigillana and Jeff Alejandro delivered clutch performances for the Ateneo side, with both fighters emerging victorious from their sudden death matches.

Meanwhile, the lady jins struggled during their Season 78 debut, as they lost to both UST (0-7) and University of the East (1-6). Lady Eagles Team Captain Frances Siapno was the lone victor for the home team as she collected a 12-5 victory off six body shots and a pair of kicks to her opponent’s head.

“The first day doesn’t define us and who we are as a team,” Siapno said of their performance. “All we can do from today is learn from it.”

The first day of the tournament puts the Blue Eagles at 1-1 and the Lady Eagles at 0-2 in the elimination round standings.

The blue jins will next face National University and UE while their female counterparts will go against De La Salle University and UP on Thursday, October 15 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Ateneo de Manila University.