By Aimerose C. Atienza

Far Eastern University (FEU) Jins and Lady Jins brought home five medals in the 2023 National New Face of the Year taekwondo competition held last May 21 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila City.

Three Tamaraws finished on the gold podium with Lady Jins Regina Abello and Czarina Danganan winning in the featherweight and lightweight category, respectively, while green-and-gold Jin Winson Balibalita took the top spot in the merged welter-middleweight category.

In an online interview with FEU Advocate, Balibalita shared that the win was a huge boost for his confidence as FEU continues to prepare for the new season of the UAAP.

“Last year kasi ang dami kong setbacks which really affected my morale and mindset, but after winning this tournament, tumaas ‘yung confidence ko ulit and narealize ko na kaya ko pa rin pala (It was because last year that I had a lot of setbacks which really affected my morale and mindset, but after winning this tournament, my confidence went up again and I realized that I can still do it),” he said.

In a separate interview, Abello shared that the team also had to juggle their training and the finals week of the University coming into the competition.

“We do double time for extra training para sa competition na ‘to [and] we have struggles din since finals week pero we are able to manage our time naman (for this competition [and] we also have struggles since finals week but we are able to manage our time fortunately) and I am proud of the results,” she stated.

Two other Morayta-based kickers added to FEU’s medal count as Claire Kanakan won bronze in featherweight, while Ken Jaranilla also clinched the bronze medal in the flyweight division. 

The 2023 National New Face of the Year is one of the preseason taekwondo tournaments joined by the FEU Jins and Lady Jins.

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)