FIFTH place no more.
Learning from past mistakes, the UST Male Woodpushers finally barged into the medal column after being denied a space on the podium the last two years.
Bouyed by a 33.5-point aggregate at the end of the UAAP chess tournament last Sept. 21 at the UST Tan Yan Kee Student Center auditorium, the Male Woodpushers posted a remarkable bridesmaid finish amid a last-game officiating controversy that nearly relegated them to third place in lieu of Adamson University, which filed a protest after repulsing the black-gold-white crew, 1.5-2.5.
Far Eastern University (FEU) ruled the UAAP boards with 36 points while third-placer Adamson finished 0.5 points short of overtaking the second-seeded UST.
Adamson rued an error in judgment by the arbiter, who recognized a draw in favor of UST board 4 bet Jude Fronda despite the San Marcelino-based woodpusher Tristan Soriano’s winning position.
Soriano, however, accepted the draw “as a sign of respect to the arbiter’s decision,” said Adamson coach Christopher Rodriguez, who noted that Soriano could have gotten the whole point had the arbiter fully proved UST’s claim for a draw before establishing his decision.
Rodriguez planned to file a formal protest to the UAAP Board.
Besides Fronda, Vic Villanueva and Patrick Florendo also settled for draws in Boards 1 and 2, while Gerald Ferriol lost to Junar Valeros in Board 3.
In the individual awards, Fronda was hailed as Board 5 gold medalist while Villanueva received a bronze in Board 2.
UST lost to De La Salle University, 1.5-2.5, last Sept. 20 after registering 2.5-1.5 wins against University of the Philippines (UP) last Sept. 14 and National University (NU) last Sept. 13.
Earlier, the Male Woodpushers forced a 2-2 standoff against FEU last Sept. 7, a day after embarrassing Ateneo de Manila University, 4-0. UST capped its Round 8 assignment with a 3-1 victory over University of the East (UE) last August 31.
“We have a deep bench,” coach Winston Silva told the Varsitarian. “We will be stronger next year.”
Turn around
The Lady Woodpushers failed to duplicate their male counterparts’ feat, settling for third behind eventual champion La Salle and first runner-up FEU.
“Kulang pa ako sa tao, iilan lang ang na-rorotate ko na players,” coach Ronald Dableo told the Varsitarian. “Babawiin na lang natin next year.”
UST only collected a 28-point total after 12 rounds which snapped the Lady Woodpushers’ three-year reign on the UAAP board.
In their final match last Sept. 21, the Lady Woodpushers dropped a 0.5-3.5 contest against La Salle as Romelin Guerra became the only Thomasian to escape the green-and-white onslaught after halving the point with Susan Neri.
Meanwhile, UST triumphed against NU, 3-1, last Sept. 20 and UE, 3-1, last Sept.13. Dableo’s think-tank also drubbed FEU (3.5-0.5) last Sept. 7 and Ateneo (4-0) last Sept. 6 before signing a 2-2 truce with UP last Sep. 13.
Lady Woodpusher Carina Lumacad took the gold medal in Board 4 while Rohini Vergara and Guerra bagged the silver and bronze in Boards 2 and 5, respectively. Ana Mae G. Roa
