Tag: September 14, 2011

IN A SEASON where they had been written off before it could even begin, the Growling Tigers exceeded expectations, barged into the UAAP Final Four, and gave the defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles a big scare.

But in the end, UST, which is celebrating its Quadricentennial anniversary, succumbed to a better team and was good only for fourth place.

The Tigers fought tooth-and-nail before the mighty Blue Eagles escaped with a 66-69 win in their semifinal match at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum last Sept. 15.

Despite the loss, coach Pido Jarencio saw positive things with the way his wards matched up against the Blue Eagles, who were to meet the FEU Tamaraws in a rematch of last season’s Finals.

ONE TEAM brought back the crown while the other was denied of a repeat.

The UST Tiger Jins lorded it over in the UAAP senior men’s taekwondo tournament via 5-0 sweep, but defending champions Lady Jins crashed to fourth place with a lowly 3-2 win-loss record at the Arena in San Juan last Sept. 17.

The UST Junior Jins swept the competition, 4-0, en route to their third straight title.

“The kids were really strong and the stat sheets clearly showed our advantage during the matches,” overall coach Dindo Simpao said.

In their championship bout, the Tiger Jins bested De La Salle University, 5-2.

THE UST Tiger Cubs missed the UAAP Final Four for the first time in five years, closing their season with a miserable 5-9 win-loss card.

The Cubs lost their last two games against the Adamson Falcons and the Far Eastern University, respectively, and settled for a miserable 5-9 win-loss card, their worst record since 2006.

The Cubs dropped a close one against the FEU Baby Tamaraws, 48-51, last Sept. 3, then bombed out against the Adamson Baby Falcons, 49-57 a week later at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym.

“(Missing the Final Four) was really painful, but we should play with more heart next season,” said coach Allan Ascue, who missed the services of injured key players Neil Ilarde and Joshua Almajeda early in the season.

THE LADY Spikers won the UAAP beach volleyball title after disposing of the Ateneo de Manila University team in their best-of-three series, 21-19, 21-16, at the University of the East-Caloocan sand courts this morning.

The men’s duo of Jayson Ramos and Mark Alfafara settled for a first-running up finish after losing to the defending champion Far Eastern University, 14-21, 17-21.

Maruja Banaticla battled through leg cramps and teamed up with Judy Caballejo to give the Lady Spikers their first championship since 2006.

“We trusted each other that we can win the game,” said Caballejo, this year’s MVP.

TIGER Paddlers head coach Henberd Ortalla brought home gold and bronze medals from the World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) 2011table tennis competition held in New York City last August 31.

Ortalla, a Police Officer I in the Philippine National Police, paired up with retired Senior Police Officer III Maria Teresa Deniega to pummel the host country, United States, in the finals of the mixed-doubles category to clutch the gold medals for the Philippines.

“With the different playing styles in the competition, adjusting to each team’s strengths and weaknesses was not a problem anymore,” Ortalla said.

With the latest victory, Ortalla is now a three-time gold medalist in the WPFG. He last won in the tournament’s last instalment in 2009.

TWO FORMER Growling Tigers are now in the big league.

Dylan Ababou, the 2009 UAAP MVP and Smart-Gilas national team mainstay, was picked 10th over all by the Barako Bull Energy Boosters, while PBA-D League MVP Allein Maliksi was chosen by Petron Blaze as its eight overall pick, before he was traded to the Barako Bulls in exchange for Dondon Hontiveros.

Ababou and Maliksi are expected to bolster Barako’s line-up as wingmen, alongside veterans Wynne Arboleda, Willie Miller, and Danny Seigle. The first conference of the 37th season of PBA is set to begin next month.

“There are a lot of expectations since I’m part of the national team,” Ababou said. “Hopefully, I can adjust easily and deliver for my team so I can prove myself.”

A FEW MONTHS ago, when my writers and I were brewing the Varsitarian’s annual UAAP fearless forecast, we caught ourselves in an endless news gathering and interviewing with coaches and player. It was a tedious task to build the story since the UAAP season was just around the corner.

The mere legwork not only allowed us to write a morale-boosting UST primer but also led us to an exposé of top athletes being booted out of the University due to debarment. During the process of crafting that story, many were trying to stop me from doing it since it might invite negative comments, but the journalist in me said otherwise.