THE UST Jins settled for second place in the UAAP Season 81 taekwondo tournament at the Blue Eagle Gym Friday.
The Tiger Jins finished the tournament atop the standings alongside National University with a 5-1 win-loss card but settled for silver due to the winner-over-the-other rule. The Lady Jins also ended with a 5-1 record to salvage second place.
Last year, the Tiger Jins notched the bronze medal while the Lady Jins placed fourth.
The men’s team outlasted the University of the East, 5-2, before toppling the University of the Philippines, 5-2.
Tied at 1-1, the Tiger Jins zoomed to three quick wins, capped by Juan Miguel Ramos’ mastery of UP’s Karlos Gaerlan, 21-18.
Isaiah Lorbes secured the victory for UST in the sixth match after crushing UE’s Felixander Dalupang III, 11-0.
“We fell short but still the players performed very well, kahit gaano kahirap ‘yong training namin they still followed our formula,” Tiger Jins assistant coach Gershon Bautista told the Varsitarian.
In women’s action, the Lady Jins demolished UE, 7-0, before bowing to NU, 2-5, in the virtual championship match.
With UST leading 2-1, NU won the next four games to seal their third-straight crown.
Lady Jin Gabrielle Limjoco’s attack on UE’s Kristel Tassip in the sudden death round gave UST the victory in the fourth match, 2-0.
“We were ahead after the third match against NU pero ‘yong players nila after the third match, puro veterans at national team players na so that was a factor,” Lady Jins head coach Jasmin Simpao said.
In the individual category, Jamaica de Guzman (finweight), Zay Cajes (bantamweight) and Charm Ragutana (welterweight) notched silver while Limjoco (featherweight), Colleen Heria (flyweight), Allysa Asegurado (lightweight) and Laila Delo (middleweight) nabbed bronze for the Lady Jins.
Ramos (lightweight) captured gold while Salvador Marcos (finweight), Aries Capispisan (middleweight) and Lorbes (welterweight) pocketed bronze for the Tiger Jins.
UST will miss the services of Lorbes, Ramos, Capispisan, de Guzman, Ragutana, Cajes, Heria and Joshua Ramirez, who all exhausted their playing years.
The Tiger and Lady Jins remained the winningest team in UAAP with 14 and 10 titles, respectively.
