THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles competed in day 2 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Taekwondo Championship on Sunday, October 23 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

The Lady Eagles

The lady jins began their tourney in the team tie against De La Salle University (DLSU). The Lady Eagles dropped the first two matches, as Irene Bermejo and Noleen Lagnada lost 2-13 and 2-5, respectively. Aivy de Asis sealed the first win of the Katipunan-based side with a 5-0 victory.

In her highly anticipated UAAP debut, Pauline Lopez was trailing after the first round. After landing successive hits from both sides, however, Lopez secured the win late in the second round (7-6). With the teams in a deadlock, Arianne Agojo made a valiant attempt at a comeback as she lost 7-10 after trailing 0-7. Frances Siapno and Gem Sandoval similarly found themselves trailing after their respective first rounds. After being down by as much 5 points, both Lady Eagles consequently lost their matches, 5-12 and 6-8, respectively.

In the team tie against National University, Bermejo’s narrow 8-7 win was cancelled out as Laganda dropped her match, 3-5. In the third match, de Asis’ hit to the head proved to be the winning kick as she took the match 3-1. Shortly after, Lopez found herself in a tiebreaker after two rounds ended with a 1-1 stalemate. Lopez came up short in the decider, losing 2-3, which evened the scores of the team tie at 2-2.

The Lady Bulldogs took the lead after Arianne Agojo was outmatched 1-8, handing the former a 3-2 edge in the team tie. In the sixth match, Siapno and her NU counterpart could not be separated after two rounds. However, she would fall in the tiebreaker, 4-9. Sandoval grabbed a consolation for the Lady Eagles as she won 8-5.

In the last matchup for the day, the Lady Eagles suited up to face the University of the East (UE). Despite losing 0-1 in the tiebreaker, Bermejo showed great resolve to mount a comeback late in the second round to tie the match at 4-4. In the second match, Lagnada found herself down by two for the better duration of the rounds, which gave enough space for her UE counterpart to close the match (3-5).

De Asis, however, broke through the scoreboard for the Lady Eagles as her 2-1 win secured a personal 3-0 win-loss record in the tournament so far. Pauline Lopez tied the matchup at 2-2 after her steady offensive play earned her a 4-0 win. Arianne Agojo’s 5-2 win turned out to be the decisive winner for the Katipunan-based side as Siapno won the sixth match by default due to a shortage of UE players, thereby winning the team tie for the Blue Eagles.

In the last match of the day, Sandoval was locked in a tight and aggressive battle. With fifteen seconds to go in the second round, Sandoval was trailing 6-7. Despite attempting several attacks, her UE counterpart held on to take the match.

The Blue Eagles

In the men’s division, Justin de Leon kicked off Season 79 for the blue jins where he lost 1-4 against his UE counterpart. Aaron Agojo evened the scoreboard after the second match, however, winning 8-5 against the UE opposition. Elijah Buencamino was tied, 8-8, after two rounds, but he fell short in the tiebreaker. In the fourth match, Ferdz Subido was outmatched 4-20. Noy Garcia was defeated in the fifth match, 1-8, as the Blue Eagles conceded the tie to UE. Jeff Alejandro pulled one win back for the Blue Eagles, while Jeff Ong was defeated 1-7 in the last match of the tie.

The Blue Eagles faced the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the next team tie where the Tigers’ exemplary offense outmatched the Blue Eagles. Aside from Agojo’s comfortable 13-3 win, the Blue Eagles struggled to keep pace with the firepower of the España-based side.

De Leon’s opponent made use of his height advantage to land several kicks to take the first match, 1-13. Afterwards, Buencamino and Subido were outmatched, 4-16. Garcia attempted a comeback in the second round with a strike to the head. However, he ultimately lost the match 7-11. After the first round of the sixth match, Alejandro found himself at 1-2 deficit. His offensive struggles in the second round, however, allowed his UST counterpart to take the match, 1-5. The offensive drought continued for Blue Eagle Jeff Ong, who failed to make a mark on the scoreboard as he fell, 0-13, to conclude the second day for the Blue Eagles.

Despite a disappointing run for the Blue Eagles, the day ultimately ended with a win for the Blue and White, as the Lady Eagles bagged their first team-tie win in Season 79.

Day 3 of the UAAP Taekwondo Championship will be held on Monday, October 24 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Loyola Heights, Quezon City.