26 September 2013, 8:24 a.m. – THE UST Lady Jins walked away with the title while the Tiger Jins lost the crown and settled for second place as the UAAP taekwondo tournament came to a close at The Arena in San Juan Wednesday.
The Lady Jins had to fend off a pesky De La Salle University squad, 4-3, on their way to the gold. But La Salle’s men’s team went home with the championship by edging out the Tiger Jins, 3-4.
Lady Jin Abby Cham was hailed as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) while Jovylou Meguillo is this season’s Rookie of the Year.
La Salle’s Kevin Sia was awarded with the MVP honors while Green Archer Kristoffer Uy is the season’s Rookie of the Year in the men’s division.
The Lady Jins suffered two-straight losses in the fin and fly weight divisions, but won the next two matches. The Tiger Jins failed to defend their crown as JM Ramos lost to his La Salle counterpart in a close 5-6 decision in the fifth match.
UST and La Salle were tied, 2-2, coming into the fifth match. Reigning UAAP Season 75 Athlete of the Year Christian Al dela Cruz could have brought home the victory for UST with four wins had Ramos beaten his La Salle foe.
Dela Cruz demolished his opponent, 6-1, in the first round and went on to finish the match at 12-6.
Lady Jin Jane Narra (middle/heavyweight) put up an early 3-1 lead in the 1:30 mark of the first round. She was leading, 6-1, with 1:21 remaining, but La Salle challenged the scoring. After a review, the officials later retracted the tally.
But Narra remained unfazed and unleashed a barrage of body kicks to set the pace in the second round, 7-2, at the 1:09 mark. Another kick to the body and a near hit to the head closed the match at 8-2 in favor of UST.
“I just kept in mind that we really needed to win. I felt the pressure but at the same time excited to prove to them that the championship is really ours,” she said.
In the last match, Tiger Jin John Mendoza faced a huge height disadvantage against La Salle’s heavyweight bet.
Mendoza was stuck in a 1-4 hole early in the first round. He only scored thrice, one off penalty, to finish the round with 3-9 deficit.
Mendoza’s opponent showed no mercy and released a flurry of body hits to wrap up the match for La Salle, 16-7.
The Tiger Jins then disposed of Far Eastern University, 5-2.
. R.J.D.R. Hernandez
