AT THE end of the first half of UAAP Season 77, the UST Tigers are poised to reclaim the overall championship from defending champion De La Salle University.
The Tigers garnered a total of 152 points, highlighted by championships from men and women’s judo, men’s taekwondo and women’s beach volleyball.
UST also bagged a silver medal in the men’s beach volleyball and placed third in men’s swimming, women’s table tennis and taekwondo, and poomsae which gave a slim five-point breathing room for the Tigers over La Salle.
The two-time defending champion Green Archers, who dominated the table tennis tournament, collected 147 points, followed by the University of the Philippines with 130 markers sparked by gold medals from poomsae, and women’s taekwondo and badminton.
Ateneo placed fourth with 114 points with titles in the men’s and women’s swimming while men’s and women’s basketball champions National University landed at fifth place with 99 markers.
Far Eastern University, season host University of the East, and Adamson University tallied 91, 66 and 53 points, respectively.
Fr. Ermito de Sagon,O.P., director of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics, said the UAAP had become unpredictable, making the overall championship harder to win.
“It is true that it is harder [to maintain the lead in the general championship race] because before we only dealt with Ateneo and La Salle and we were suspecting that they will do everything to win. But this year is a proof that even [Danding] Cojuangco and MVP [Manny Pangilinan] could not do anything. The new players are the new taipans who would want to make a name,” he said.
He said all the participating schools in the UAAP were now more competitive and hungrier for the general championship title, citing the National University Bulldogs as an example.
Coming into the second semester, the Tigers will try to bank on the reinforced Golden Tigresses and Tiger Spikers, both mentored by Odjie Mamon.
“We’re hoping for a finals showing. It’s lofty, but for me, the mix of experience, maturity and potential among the players will have a huge impact in their performance this season,” Mamon said.
UAAP awards 15 points for the champion team, 12 points for the runner-up, 10 for the third placer, eighth for fourth, six for fifth, four for sixth, two for seventh and one for eighth.
UST holds the record of having the most number of general championship titles with 39 overall crowns, followed by FEU with 16 titles.
Aside from volleyball, second semester events include track and field, football, baseball, softball, tennis, chess and fencing.
