NATIONAL University reclaimed the throne after a perfect 5-0 campaign in the women’s division of the UAAP Season 87 Taekwondo Tournament on Thursday evening at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
It was the Lady Bulldogs’ first championship since completing a four-peat from UAAP seasons 79 to 82 (2016-19) with an impressive six-gold haul.
After defeating University of the Philippines, 6-1, NU ended University of Santo Tomas’ two-year reign with a 6-1 victory to complete a perfect season.
“Sobrang proud talaga ako sa women’s team namin. Last year, we fell short by one match pero ganun talaga yung game, may nananalo, may natatalo,” recalled NU taekwondo program head Carlos Padilla.
When the competitions resumed after a three-year hiatus, the Tiger Jins won back-to-back as the Lady Bulldogs finished runners-up in the past two seasons.
Bantamweight Veronica Garces was named season MVP.
“Pinaka main thing na ginawa namin is to start from the bottom. Hindi namin inisip na runner-up kami last year but we really aimed for a championship even the loss last year,” said Garces, a 25-year-old jin who is currently finishing a masters in education degree in health and physical education.
De La Salle toppled traditional men’s powers NU and UST to complete a 5-0 sweep on Wednesday to annex its first title since Season 76 (2013) and the ninth overall.
“We are very proud of them kahit hindi sila mag-champion because grabe yung hard work nila and their fighting spirit, lahat yun nagbunga,” said Green Jins coach Kirstie Alora, an Olympian from the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. “Masaya kami na nakuha yung championship.”
Finweight Johnson Rosario emerged as the tournament MVP.
Aside from Garces, other Lady Bulldogs gold medalists were finweight Clarence Sarza, flyweight Rajany Santos, lightweight Sharifa Via dela Cruz, and middle/heavy weight Merica Chan.
The Tiger Jins placed second with a 4-1 record behind last season’s MVP Laizel Abucay, who won the featherweight gold.
La Salle, which completed the women’s podium with a 3-2 record, had Dhivine Lerado, featherweight silver medalist, as the Rookie of the Year.
Rosario, welterweight Einz Aricayos and middle/heavyweight Marc Andrei Gacilos were the other Green Jins’ gold medal winners.
NU, which has a 4-1 record for second place, was led by bantamweight Kenneth Buenavides, who also went home with the top rookie honors, and featherweight Nusair Lao, last year’s MVP.
In third was UST with a 3-2 slate, with flyweight Alien Aynaga as its lone gold medalist.
The Bulldogs, who saw their five-season domination came to an end, battled the Tiger Jins for the runner-up honors and emerge triumphant, 4-3.
In the high school division, NU-Nazareth defeated UST, 4-1, to annex its second straight title via 4-0 sweep.
FEU-Diliman overpowered De La Salle-Zobel, 5-0, to secure third place starring gold medalist Kay-Ar Cruza.
