IN A DAY that saw its UAAP rivals ambush others on the tracks, the UST Tiger Jins-Gold banked on its old reliables to escape the upset axe and rule the senior men’s advance category of the 30th Petron National Taekwondo Championships last July 28 and 29 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Season 69 MVP Billy Coral, Jurrie Bernardino and Marlon Avenido teamed up with Olympian Tshomlee Go and former team captain Alexander Briones to help UST-Gold post a nail-biting 3-2 finals victory against a stubborn Delta Gold-La Salle crew.
“They (holdovers) did well in the tournament,” coach Dindo Simpao told the Varsitarian. “But they still have a lot to improve in time for the UAAP taekwondo tournament (in September) where they can probably meet these tough teams again.”
Despite showing shades of might courtesy of Bernardino and Go’s methodical thumping of Delta Gold’s Christian Superiano (5-2) and Ralph Loferteza (5-1) in the second and third fights, the España-based jins still teetered on the verge of ouster as Avenido yielded a 6-7 stunner to David Rivero in the fourth match-up that evened the count at 2 wins apiece.
Earlier, Coral narrowly lost a down-the-wire encounter with Edison Bagaipo, 2-3, in the first finals pairing.
But the hard-hitting Briones, who was visibly awakened by a stinging roundhouse kick at the start of the decisive fifth fight, refused to give up the Tiger Jins’ cause as he punished Delta Gold’s Clarence Virtudazo with crippling sidekicks to shatter the UST-La Salle scoring stalemate for good.
UST-Gold’s victory served as a fitting payback for its Black and White teams which took similar 2-3 losses against FEU-Gold and Delta Gold in the quarterfinals.
On the distaff side, the Lady Jins, bannered by UAAP MVPs Ma. Rainee Rose Arca and Esther Marie Singson, Kathleen Valenzuela, Caryn Pilonggo, and Sarah Joy Arellano, settled for the bronze after bowing to Delta Green-La Salle, 2-3, in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Jerick Go, Paul Garcia, Miguel Espiritu, Brandon Arroyo and Jonathan Go of the UST Juniors team bagged the silver in the junior men’s advance division.
