PROUDLY REPRESENTING the Philippines, members of the Ateneo Judo Team (AJT) made their mark at the 2024 Indika Energy Southeast Asia Judo Championships after securing one silver and three bronze medals. The tournament took place last May 31 to June 2 at the Yudomo Sports Hall in Bali, Indonesia.
Building upon their successful national stint last April, select Atenean judokas stood as national representatives in the contest against the stacked competition, as they participated in either or both the juniors and seniors categories of the tournament. Among them were Team Captain Yza Claravall, Co-Captain Maxine Mababangloob, and Robynne Gonzales of the Women’s Division. On the other hand, donning the nation’s colors in the Men’s Division were Aldwyn Ceyen Thor, Keoni Dylim, Trev Apostol, and Stefan Pete Fabre.
After clinching a bronze finish in her stint at this year’s Philippine Judo National Championships, Claravall added international hardware to her collection. Showing a great display of endurance and perseverance, the veteran survived two golden score situations in the quarter and semifinal rounds, with the latter lasting nine minutes. This showcase earned Claravall a silver medal in the women’s -48 kg juniors division.
Meanwhile, coming off a silver finish at the national tournament, Thor held onto his winning momentum on the international scene. Despite losing to an armbar submission in the bronze medal match of the seniors category, the Atenean still garnered favorable results in a prior bronze medal match in the juniors division.
Competing alongside Claravall was University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 gold medalist Mababangloob, who continued her stellar performance in the women’s -78 kg division. In her juniors division outing, the judoka asserted her dominance, taking bronze with a waza-ari on an O goshi that gave her the victory within one minute. The O goshi throw also worked wonders for Mababangloob in the seniors category, as she utilized the technique to capture three wins en route to her second bronze of the tournament.
Following consecutive victories that led Thor into the semifinal round of the juniors -81 kg weight class event, the Blue Eagle fell short of gold medal contention due to a loss via waza-ari on an Uchi mata to Osoto-gari and eventual time exhaustion. However, the judoka mustered grit with a Tani-otoshi followed by a pin down submission to win his bronze medal bout.
With these decorated accolades under their belt, the AJT will gun for another medal haul overseas when they participate in the Hong Kong Junior Asian Cup in China on August 18.
