Ateneo judokas complete 3-peat; UST dethrones UP in lady's group

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo competed a three-peat in the men’s division while University of Santo Tomas (UST) dethroned University of the Philippines (UP) as women’s champs in the 73rd UAAP judo tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Blue Eagles copped three of the four gold medals at stake on the final day to collar their third straight title with 57 points, 18 ahead of first-day leader UST Tigers (39). La Salle finished third with 24 points.

For their part, the Tigresses ended the four-year reign of the Lady Maroons with a 42-point tally as against UP’s 35, their bid boosted by a three-gold harvest on Day 2.

Trailing the Tigers after Saturday’s hostilities, Ateneo flexed its muscle with an all-ADMU finale in the extra-lightweight division won by Jhonel Faelnar and title romps by half-lightweight Chris Velasco, and half-middleweight Angelo Gumila.

In all, AdMU captured four golds, three silvers and one bronze as against UST’s three-gold, one-silver and two-bronze haul.

“The three-peat was all part of the plan,” said Ateneo coach Ali Sulit, whose school now has four men’s judo titles overall.

Lightweight Annie Ramirez, half-middleweight Jewel De Castro and middleweight Setsuko Ando all beat their respective rivals via Ippon to lead the Tigresses to a four-gold, one-bronze production that was good for their first crown since 2005.

“The team benefited from their training with the national judo team and they were really motivated to win the title again,” said UST coach Jojo Arce.

The Lady Maroons managed only a gold, courtesy of half-heavyweight Adrienne Bernardez, along with three silvers and five bronzes, to kiss their five-peat bid goodbye.

First-day leader La Salle settled for only two silvers and two bronzes yesterday to win up third with 29 points.