THE UST Tiger Jins settled for a bronze-medal finish on Thursday after a 4-3 loss to their perennial rivals, the NU Bulldogs, which capped off their UAAP Season 87 men’s kyorugi tournament campaign at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Tiger Jins finished as runners-up to NU in the five previous seasons. DLSU ended NU’s reign and won Season 87’s gold medal, causing UST to fall to bronze for the first time in over a decade.
UST ended the season with a 3-2 win-loss record, notching its last win of the tournament against Ateneo earlier in the day, 7-0.
“Actually, expected na mangyayari po because last year… La Salle gave both NU and UST a hard time,” UST head coach Gershon Bautista told the Varsitarian. “Last year, it just so happens na maganda ‘yong timpla ng players [natin], maganda ‘yong morale. We won.”
“It should have been better. We did not lack preparation…So, ang sasabihin ko lang talaga. It all boils down to the breaks of the game.”
After Tiger Jin Jose Cartagena and Aljen Aynaga lost the first two matches, Rama Liporada and team captain John Pasion put the game at a 2-all deadlock, defeating Kenneth Buenavides (8-4, 3-4, 6-2) and reigning MVP Nusair Lao (1-0, 6-3), respectively.
UST’s John Gariega fell to Sturdy Gilbuena, 3-0, 4-1, before Bulldog Kurt Pajuelas shut down Tiger Jin Reyvin Villanueva to capture the win.
UAAP gold and SEA Games medalist Israel Cantos withdrew from his final match against NU’s Carl Ayaton.
Aynaga (flyweight) and Cantos (middle/heavyweight) took home silver medals, while Gariega bagged bronze.
“Moving forward, there will be some players who will compete in the national team selection before the year ends. So, hopefully, they have a good showing just like here in the UAAP,” Bautista said. with reports from Rafael Paolo P. Salaya and Rev E. de la Cruz.
