16 September 2014, 11:50 p.m. – THE UST Tiger
Jins are back on top after a perfect run in the UAAP Season 77 taekwondo
tournament.
The Tiger Jins defeated De La
Salle University at The Arena in San Juan on Tuesday, after posting
identical 4-3 victories against the University of the Philippines and the Green
Archers to finish with a 6-0 record.
Aries Capispisan secured the win for UST after defeating Gerry del
Rosario of La Salle, 7-6, for a 4-2 advantage.
Rhayzor Catris, Paul Romero and Joaquin Mendoza got the Tiger Jins
to a hot start after trouncing their La Salle counterparts for a 3-1 UST lead.
“The men’s team was very consistent since day one. They were
able to win all the matches,” said head coach Jasmine Simpao of the Tiger
Jin’s dominant outing.
In the women’s division, the UST Lady Jins lost their crown
and settled for third place after suffering a heartbreaking defeat against Far
Eastern University, 3-4.
The loss to the Lady Tamaraws
negated UST’s rousing 4-3 victory over the University of the Philippines that
could have given the Lady Jins a crack at back-to-back titles.
The Lady Jins already had the crown within reach after Jane Narra
defeated Cyrmyn Perlas of UP in a highly competitive bout, 7-6, to hand the
Lady Maroons their lone defeat.
However, Arianne Asegurado failed to equalize the match for UST
and bowed to FEU’s Clouie Bolinas, 14-5, to give the Lady Tamaraws a 4-2 lead.
The loss to FEU spoiled UST coronation as the Lady Maroons,
last year’s runners-up, claimed the championship with a 5-1 record.
The Lady Jins and La Salle both finished with the second best
record at 4-2, but UST had to settle for third place due to an inferior
quotient.
UST won a total of 25 matches for the tournament, compared with La
Salle’s 27.
“We prepared very hard for
this. It was just breaks of the game, either you make it or not,” Simpao
said. K. C. G. Basco
