THE ATENEO Blue Eagles finally snagged a medal after a disappointing first two days of competition, while the Lady Eagles failed to make a mark on the third day of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Fencing tournament on Saturday, February 10, at the PhilSports Complex Fencing Hall in Pasig City.
Lady Eagles
The Lady Eagles struggled throughout the day and managed a lackluster performance in their knockout matchup against archrivals De La Salle University (DLSU) in the Women’s Foil team event.
The team, composed of Patricia Paulo, Tin Dalida, Gabby Jimenez, and Captain Justine Joseph, never tasted the lead and suffered a dismal defeat to the opposition. They called it a day with 18-45.
Blue Eagles
In the first event of the day, the Men’s Saber team of RV Libarios, Segis Borja, Paolo Villegas, and Kyle Lim fell behind early in their playoff match against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons. Without the momentum on their side, the quartet failed to book a semi-finals spot, conceding the match at 24-45.
Meanwhile, the Men’s Epèe team of Captain Michael Tan, Lim, Jacob Villanueva, and Kyle Go finally broke the dry spell by bagging a bronze medal in the event. The Blue and White’s epèe team started off their campaign in a playoff match against UP for the last semi-finals berth. The faceoff proved to be a seesaw battle with no side relenting until Lim and Tan went on separate scoring runs to pull away from UP. Villanueva then put on the finishing touches for Ateneo to secure the win, 45-40.
In the semi-finals, the Blue Eagles were pitted against powerhouse team University of Santo Tomas (UST). The Blue and White started the match resiliently, with Kyle Lim holding his own against the number one epèeist in the country, Noelito Jose. The Ateneo veteran ended with the advantage on his side, going ahead in the first bout with the lead (5-4).
Villanueva continued the surge to lead by three, 10-7, after the second, but the opposition eventually took the match away, as the España-based squad asserted their dominance to finish the match, 28-45.
After their tough win against UP, Tan could not express the immense pride he had for his team. “I’m really, really proud of my team. These guys are the most dedicated group of people I’ve met in my life. It wasn’t an easy medal. We worked hard for that medal,” he said.
Tan admitted that they were strikingly outplayed by UST in the semi-finals, but he highly praised his team for fighting till the very end.
The Blue and Lady Eagles have one last chance to reap medals in the remaining team events on February 11, at the PhilSports Complex Fencing Hall in Pasig City.
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