THE ATENEO Men’s and Women’s Judo Teams collected two silver and three bronze medals at the onset of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 Judo Tournament. The long-awaited opening day of this year’s judo competitions took place on Saturday, December 17, at the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
Men’s Division
Looking to build off their third-place finish last Season 82, the Men’s Judo team took to the mats with five judokas competing for the Blue Eagles yesterday.
The Season 85 campaign of the Men’s Team began on a sour note, with Enrico Tallada falling to his De La Salle University (DLSU) adversary in the -81kg weight class via an ippon.
Following Tallada was Ateneo’s Arhann Rodil, who looked to pick up the slack for the Blue and White in the Men’s -90kg. In his first match of the day, Rodil outclassed his University of the Philippines (UP) rival with a successful ippon and advanced to the next round.
In Rodil’s semifinal bout against his DLSU foe, he booked a trip to the Men’s -90kg championship after his rival committed an illegal shoulder lock move. While Rodil fell short in the finals after his University of Santo Tomas (UST) counterpart won utilizing via ippon, he proudly secured a silver-medal finish for Ateneo.
Rodil’s efforts were followed up by three more hard-fought outings by the Men’s Judo Team. In spite of clinching a spot in the Men’s -90kg bronze medal bout, Robert Morico failed to secure a win after being outmatched by his UP opponent. While making it to the Men’s +100kg quarterfinals, Justin Dela Paz fell short against his UST-based matchup via an ippon.
Despite losing an earlier game, Blue Eagle Yvan Ayalin snagged a bronze medal in his Men’s +100kg division. Ayalin dominated his UP foe courtesy of an ippon, pinning his enemy down for more than 25 seconds.
Women’s Division
Vying to produce commendable outcomes of their own, the Women’s Judo Team kickstarted Day 1 with immediate victories. In the Women’s -57kg quarterfinals, Rosanna Nolido made quick work of her UST rival, winning thanks to an ippon. While missing out on a chance to compete for a gold medal, Nolido bagged the Women’s Team’s first hardware of the day—collecting bronze in the -57kg division.
Janelle Runez registered the Women’s Team’s first unfavorable result of the tourney, succumbing to her DLSU and UP rivals in the Women’s -48kg weight class.
In the Women’s -52kg quarterfinals, Yohannah Castillo bowed out to her UP competitor after being overpowered and defeated via an ippon. Castillo was not able to bounce back on her next assignment, losing to a DLSU combatant through another ippon.
Succeeding this, Ateneo’s Women’s -48kg division judoka Yzabelle Claraval took down her University of the East (UE) foe via an ippon to begin her successful day. Following her earlier win, Claraval triumphed in the semifinals–taking down her UST matchup assignment with a waza-ari. While unable to seal a championship win, Claraval still took home the Blue Eagles’ second silver medal finish of the day.
Women’s Team Captain Roni Lapuz closed out the day by tallying a bronze medal win after her DLSU foe committed a penalty in the Golden Score portion of the Women’s -52kg division match.
The Blue Eagles Men’s and Women’s Judo Teams will look to conclude the short two-day UAAP Judo Tournament with more medal-winning performances tomorrow, December 18, at the same venue.
