NU jins in golden sweep

National University had another golden double by ruling the women and men’s division Friday in the UAAP Season 81 taekwondo tournament at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The Lady Bulldogs completed a perfect season, winning all six fights to annex their third consecutive crown.

After a stunning season-opening loss to Ateneo, NU won five in a row capped by a 4-3 win over La Salle in the final fight to become back-to-back men's champions.

Despite the graduation of twin sisters Rhezie and Rheza Aragon, the Lady Bulldogs were able to keep their crown behind season MVP Angie Dayag and Rookie of the Year Veronica Garces, who won golds in the welterweight and finweight divisions, respectively.

Middle/heavyweight Aideleen Flores was the other gold medalist for NU, which has actually won 18 consecutive contests dating back from 2016.

In the final fight, NU bested University of Santo Tomas in a duel of undefeated teams, 5-2.

The Tigresses settled for second place with a 5-1 card.

NU was actually tied with UST at 5-1, but the España-based squad was relegated to second place after the Tigers lost to the Bulldogs, 1-6, in the second day of the tournament.

Raymond Caño was the other men's gold medalist for NU in the welterweight division.

Also winning the Rookie of the Year honors in their respective divisions are La Salle's Akila Gabrielle Boloto, who also snatched the women's lightweight gold, and Ateneo's Harley Santos, who topped the men's flyweight category.

Other gold medalists in the men's division are Ateneo's Aaron Agojo (bantamweight) and Paul Cham (featherweight), UST's Juan Miguel Ramos (lightweight), and La Salle's Alvaro Aranton (middle/heavyweight).

In the distaff side, Ateneo's Pauline Lopez (featherweight), La Salle's Lovely Jean Avanceña (finweight), University of the Philippines' Beatrice Gaerlan (bantamweight) also won golds.