“[It is] the best. It brought out yung best namin.”
These are the words of 2015 Southeast Asian Games women’s individual foil silver medallist and University of the East stalwart, Justine Gail Tinio, to describe the David-and-Goliath sort of a battle between the Lady Warriors and the surprise finalists University of the Philippines Lady Maroons. Eventually UE’s vast experience conquered any fighting heart their opponents had shown to take another gold medal this season.
The routes of the two protagonists were poles apart, to say the least. The 1-2 finish of Tinio and teammate Keren Pangilinan in the individual event clinched them the top spot and the bye to the semifinal round of the team event. On their part, the Lady Maroons failed to bring in either Andrea Baring or Hannah Hollero into the direct eliminations of the single-player play and doomed themselves into a long road to the finals podium.
Nevertheless, UP took the challenge and proved their mettle at the start of their quarterfinals match against Far Eastern University. Slowly but surely, however, the Lady Tamaraws tried to snatch the lead. Sensing some urgency, the Lady Maroons called on someone familiar with the players on the other side of the piste. Enter Vanessa Manalo, a former Baby Tamaraw herself, but now representing UP. Manalo pulled out a gritty performance and set the stage for her team’s anchor, Baring. The third-year Maroon veteran sealed the win and booked their Final Four meeting against the De La Salle University Lady Green Fencers, 45-42.
Going into the semifinals match against the DLSU, Baring admitted to having nerves. “Natatakot din ako kay Divine [Romero of La Salle], magaling kasi siya,” she confessed. When the match ensued, however, Baring was visibly inspired by the heart shown by her teammates. And when it was her chance to finish the match once more, the captain even suffered a setback. Baring went down due to sprain with her needing just one point to finish the match, 44-41. She returned, but Romero threatened to pull the rag off her after scoring back-to-back hits, 43-44. But foil events are time-constrained, and time was on her side. Romero and Baring attempted attacks, but none came on target. Eight seconds down, still no single light. Then, time expired to the jubilation of the UP crowd.
On the other side of the Blue Eagle Gym, the UE Lady Warriors was dealing with adversity by way of the UST Lady Tiger Fencers. Eventually, Tinio and Pangilinan took over, but not without ample help from Mickeyla Bustos, to tackle the Thomasians. Despite the challenge posed by Tigresses, UE kept themselves above waters and ultimately moved on for a chance to defend another title. Tinio believed the team took her advice before they took the piste. “Tulung-tulong lang.”
A bizarre final then took place on the elevated podium as the Lady Warriors and the Lady Maroons exchanged sizeable leads over the other. Tinio took the first lead for UE, then Baring strung up a whopping 10-1 bout to wrest the lead. The tussle continued until the final two bouts. UP attempted to sub Manalo for Hannah Hollero, but the request was denied by the presider, with the match at 34-30 – UE in the lead. Pangilinan and Tinio then denied the last gasps of UP and closed out the win 45-34.
It was gold for UE’s women’s foil team, and the win virtually sealed the school’s 9th straight UAAP women’s fencing title. To this Tinio exclaimed, “Sobrang saya kasi lahat ng paghihirap naming ito yung nagging result. Tulad nung sinabi ko nung [Wednesday], sana yung gold ko [sa individual] maging key at yun nga.” She added, “Ayaw na ayaw talaga naming mawala yung peat namin.”
And that indeed did not happen. Instead, the Lady Warriors accomplished the mission: 9 straight UAAP
