THE UST Lady Jins failed to capture their third straight title as the NU Lady Bulldogs reclaimed the throne in the UAAP Season 87 women’s kyorugi tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday, Nov. 21.
NU handed UST its first loss of the season with a dominant 6-1 victory to cap off its unbeaten run this season.
The Lady Jins ended the season with a 5-1 win-loss record to settle for silver, while the Lady Bulldogs won all six games. This put NU back on top of women’s kyorugi, which they ruled for four years before ceding the title to UST in Season 85.
“Of course, turnabouts of the games. So, it’s not what we wanted. It’s not what we expected. But of course, it’s beyond our control,” UST coach Jasmin Simpao told the Varsitarian.
“[But] satisfied ako because I did see that they performed and they did their best.”
UST’s title defense hopes dimmed when Lady Jins Abigail Valdez, Rryshel Ramirez, and Yeriane Pineda fell to Clarence Sarza (4-3, 7-2), Rajany Santos (5-3, 4-0), and Veronica Garces (2-0, 2-0), respectively.
The Lady Bulldogs were a win away from a sweep and the championship, but Season 86 MVP Laizel Abucay shut out NU’s Via Trocio to keep UST alive and spark hopes for a reverse sweep.
However, in the fourth match, Realis Tabiando — who delivered the final blow to secure UST’s title in Season 85 — succumbed to NU’s Sharifa de la Cruz, 1-9, 7-2, 1-1, sealing the Lady Bulldogs’ fifth championship.
UST went on to lose the remaining divisions as veterans Laila Delo and Reign Ragutana succumbed to Lady Bulldogs Jubilee Briones (3-3, 1-0) and Merica Chan (4-3, 2-2).
“Lagi nating aim is for us to be able to get that championship back. So, I’m hoping that we’ll work on it and hopefully, we’ll bounce back next year,” Simpao said.
Abucay bagged the lone gold medal after dominating the featherweight division.
Valdez (finweight) and Tabiando (lightweight) snagged silvers, while Ramirez (flyweight), Pineda (bantamweight), and Delo (welterweight) settled for bronze medals. with reports from Rafael Paolo P. Salaya and Rev E. de la Cruz.
