By Vince Matthew Jaramilla

Far Eastern University (FEU) Jins and Lady Jins highlighted their improvements in spite of a still-winless campaign in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 Kyorugi tournament earlier today, November 20, at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila City.

“Nag-improve talaga ‘yung team [kahit] ‘yung team namin ngayon, hindi siya ‘yung team talaga na for UAAP… We’re on the edge na. Nakipag-head-to-head pa rin sa kalaban. Growing ‘yung team… Lahat puwedeng mangyari sa mga laban (The team really improved even if our team right now wasn’t supposed to be the one to compete in the UAAP. We’re on the edge already. We still went head-to-head against our opponents. The team is still growing… Anything can still happen in our fights),” kicker Lawrence Borres said in an interview with FEU Advocate.

The Jins absorbed four total losses on days one and two contra De La Salle University (DLSU), University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of the Philippines (UP), and National University (NU).

For the women’s division, the Morayta-based kickers opened their campaign yesterday with losses against DLSU, NU, and UST. Their losing streak continued against Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) today.

In another interview, Lady Jin Tionna Althea Liv Quesada echoed Borres’ statement about their growth as players.

“Maraming rookies ‘yung team namin. Maraming adjustments ‘yung nangyari. Feeling ko, ‘yun ‘yung way ng growth, kung pa’no kami makisabay sa training, pa’no kami makisama sa teammates namin. Marami kaming natutuhan ngayon as individuals and as a team (Our team has a lot of rookies. We went through a lot of adjustments. I feel that that’s our way of growth, in how we go through training, how we socialize with our teammates. We learned a lot now as individuals and as a team),” she shared.

With both teams holding 0-4 records ahead of the final day, they were officially eliminated from podium spot contention.

Despite the unsuccessful campaign, Borres cited pride as the reason for them to keep on fighting and having fun.

“Sa totoo lang, alam naming wala nang podium, eh. Pride na lang ‘yung usapan dito. ‘Yung mentality ng team, enjoy-in na lang, i-cherish lang ‘yung moments na nandito kami (In reality, we’re aware that we can’t finish on the podium anymore. The only remaining fight here is pride. The team’s mentality is to just enjoy and cherish the moments that we are here),” he stated.

Quesada also expressed their continued will to be more stable and give their best.

“As a team, gusto lang namin na mas tibayan pa namin ‘yung mga utak namin. Last game na namin tomorrow. We’ll just do our job and our best (As a team, we just want to toughen our minds. It’s our last game tomorrow. We’ll just do our job and our best),” she added.

For their last matches, the Jins will face AdMU while the Lady Jins will go up against UP tomorrow at the same venue. The poomsae tournament will also take place on the same day.

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)