Tag: Vol. LXXVIII

UPBEAT despite taking a momentary slide in its off-season grind, the UST Tigresses stayed on course in the 2007 Nike Summer League even as their male counterparts bowed out of the tournament after claiming their first victory

The erstwhile unbeaten Tigresses absorbed their first loss after surrendering a 47-57 decision to the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr) Lady Enforcers last May 9. But the loss hardly derailed the España-based cagebelles’ campaign as they remained on top of Group 1 with a 4-1 win-loss record.

Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.

– Vince Lombardi, American football coach (1913-1970)

I PLAY sports, write, and deal with life’s challenges with one goal in mind: to win.

Almost a decade ago, I started watching and playing games because of sports’ promise of glory. After all, each of us would want to be victors after putting our heart and soul into our endeavors.

REIGNING UAAP champions UST Lady Paddlers showed that they are truly indomitable in the table courts after they swept the Butterfly 2007 National Table Tennis Team Championship last April 4 at the SM North EDSA Entertainment Plaza.

Banking on their relentless smashes, sophomore Cecilia Bazaar and Season 69 Rookie of the Year Cassandra Bazaar schooled their respective UST-B counterparts Kate Ilagan and Donna Catugas, 11-7, 11-8 and 11-9, 11-9 for the title.

THEY reigned on the table courts in the early 80’s, sweeping the UAAP table tennis title for six straight years. As if those were not enough, they even broke their own record of consecutive championships after staging winning straight championships from 1990 to 1997. A historic feat, no doubt. But in the wake of UST’s loss in the 1996 finals that ended the Growling Tigers’ UAAP basketball reign, the UST Paddlers’ unparalleled victory almost went unnoticed.

THE UST Judokas hogged the spotlight once more as they paced the 2007 NCR Selection judo tournament last March 31 at the Philippine Amateur Judo Association Gym.

Led by Season 69 MVP Stephen Gerena, UST reaped two golds, two silvers, and two bronzes against UAAP archrival University of the Philippines.to underscore its billing as amateur judo’s top collegiate team.

The España-based judokas’ budding performance gained them 11 spots in the NCR roster to compete in the upcoming National Open on April 29 to 30.

THE UST men’s basketball teams jumpstarted their 2007 Nike Summer League campaign in contrasting fashion.

While the Tigers-B continued to falter in senior’s division, their junior counterparts launched their opening-day bid on a high note as they subdued Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr) Enforcers, 73-65, last April 22 at the Far Eastern University gym.

WITH TWO key players in limbo, the UST Lady Booters licked their bridesmaid scars anew as they dropped a 1-4 contest to UAAP champion Far Eastern University (FEU) in the 1st Philippine Football Federation–Ang Liga Filipina Football finals last March 31 at the Philsports football arena.

DISPLAYING high energy on both ends of the court, Season 69 champions UST Growling Tigers toyed with the visiting Calvary Bible College, 84-65, in a tune-up game last March 19 at the UST Gym.

The unpredictable Tigers did not feel the absence of UAAP Finals MVP Jojo Duncil, as slotman Jervy Cruz teamed up with Anthony Espiritu and rookie Kashim Mirza in giving UST a commanding 29-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.

IT COULD have been a twin kill for the UST Tigresses.

The España-based cagebelles nearly delivered a peat of their title-clinching Season 69 campaign but fell short of that as the resurgent Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws gored them, 43-56, in the Home and Away Invitational League (HAIL) Finals last March 27 at the FEU Gym.

Throughout the game, coach Peque Tan’s wards struggled with their offense, particularly their perimeter shots, against FEU’s rugged defensive plays.

FOR UST Lady Woodpushers head coach Ronald Dableo, there is nothing more painful than being tagged as a cheat.

Serving a one-year suspension for alleged game-fixing, the International Master (IM) Dableo said that the decision by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) was both “inappropriate” and an “overkill” since only three players were found by the investigation committee guilty of the charges.