THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles competed in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Taekwondo Championship on Monday, October 24 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Loyola Heights, Quezon City.
The Blue Eagles
The battle of Katipunan in the men’s division opened day 2 for the Eagles. Justin de Leon was comfortably dispatched by his University of the Philippines (UP) counterpart, ending the first round (2-7) and eventually the match (4-13). Aaron Agojo found himself trailing in the second match, but won the match after an accumulation of Kyonggo.
Elijah Buencamino suited up in the third match of the tie. Facing a 0-5 deficit at the end of the first round, Buencamino was unable to recover as he lost, 2-10. Ferdz Subido had a tight encounter in the first round, scoring three points off a successful strike to the head (5-3). His opponent pulled away in the second round, however, taking the match at 7-15. The offensive struggle continued for Blue Eagles Noy Garcia and Jeff Alejandro, who lost 0-14 and 2-4, respectively. In the seventh match, the attacking drought persisted for Jeff Ong who fell 1-10 to cap off a commanding 6-1 win in the favor of the Maroons.
In the team tie against De La Salle University (DLSU), the Blue Eagles’ side struggled to keep pace with their visitors from Taft Avenue. After sweeping de Leon aside, 1-21, Agojo evened the team tie score with a kick to the head late in the second round to take the match 7-4.
Nevertheless, the Archers proceeded to dominate in the succeeding matches as Buencamino fell 0-11 and Subido was overpowered 8-20 after a 2-12 run in the second round. Garcia’s struggle went on in the fifth match where he was defeated 0-8.
In a tight sixth match, however, Alejandro came from behind to take the match 5-4 after initially trailing 2-4. Regardless, Alejandro’s and Agojo’s wins would turn out to be mere consolations as Jeff Ong conceded the last match, 2-16, to conclude the tie in DLSU’s favor, 4-3.
The Lady Eagles
The lady jins were scheduled to play the University of Santo Tomas in the former’s sole matchup for day 2 of the tourney.
In a close first match, Irene Bermejo took a slender 2-0 lead, which was not enough as she faltered in the tiebreaker 0-1. In the second match, Weedee Valenzuela made an unfortunate debut in the tournament as the Lady Eagle was forced to concede the match due to injury.
The third match featured Aivy de Asis as she continued her perfect record in the tournament, winning the tiebreaker after a 3-3 deadlock. Pauline Lopez’s aggressive play in the fourth match led to a strong 7-1 win that evened the team tie.
Arianne Agojo found herself down 0-3 in the fifth match after her opponent successfully anticipated her lunge forward. In the dying seconds of the match, however, the lady jin landed a kick to the head that won her the match, 5-3, turning the tide in the Lady Eagles’ favor.
With two matches left, Frances Siapno was under pressure after ending the first round 1-6. Her opponent was equal to her attacks, however, anticipating Siapno’s moves as she used the Lady Eagle’s aggression to counter with shots. With a 1-10 UST win, Sandoval suited up for the seventh match to decide the outcome of the tie.
At the end of two rounds, however, Sandoval was unable to muster a comeback as an initial 1-2 deficit materialized into a 2-6 victory for the España-based side, concluding a hard fought matchup that could have gone either way.
This loss puts the Lady Eagles at a 1-3 standing while the Blue Eagles are still winless heading into day 4 of the UAAP Taekwondo Championship, which will be held on Tuesday, October 25 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Loyola Heights, Quezon City.
