Davao City's woman national master (WNM) Samantha Umayan clinched the high school girls board 2 gold medal as the Far Eastern University (FEU) defended its championship at the close of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (Uaap) Season 86 chess competition on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
The 17-year-old Umayan, a graduating senior High School student in the General Academic Strand (GAS) at FEU, concluded her final appearance in the UAAP high school chessfest with a flawless seven-point performance.
She outplayed Sara Dalagan of the National University (NU) and Mariel Janine Casis Solis of De La Salle Zobel in the ninth and 10th rounds, respectively.
"Masaya po kasi nagbunga po yung pagod namin ng mga teammates ko po and mga coaches po namin sa araw-araw na training for the past month (I'm happy because our hard work, my teammates and I with our coaches, in the daily training for the past month paid off)," she told SunStar Davao in a Facebook Messenger interview on Monday, November 20, 2023.
The Dabawenya woodpusher, who hails from Buhangin, also won two golds (individual and team) in the Uaap Season 85 and team silver and individual bronze in the Uaap Season 82.
She said, "Naging memorable po yung last high school season ko sa Uaap (My last high school season at Uaap was memorable)."
Umayan shared the tension they all felt on the eve of the final day of the competition, especially during the championship game.
"Pinaka memorable din po yung championship game na po, kasi kinakabahan po talaga kami lahat, nung tinanong po namin isat isa ano oras nakatulog natawa po kami kasi halos kami po lahat hindi nakatulog ng maayos sa kakaisip sa game kinabukasan (The championship game was also the most memorable, because we were all really nervous, when we asked each other what time we fell asleep, we laughed because almost all of us didn't sleep well thinking about the game the next day)," she added.
The FEU Girl Tamaraws secured the championship with 26.5 points after 10 rounds in the Swiss System format tournament, while NU settled for the runner-up honors with 22 points.
The University of Santo Tomas (UST) placed third (19.0) followed by the Adamson University (AdU) in fourth spot (12.5).
The Girl Tamaraws hacked out wins over NU (3.5-0.5) and the De La Salle Zobel (4-0) in the final two rounds.
Despite her feats, Umayan expressed regret about not being able to compete for Davao City in the Batang Pinoy national championships scheduled for December 17 to 22 in Metro Manila.
She explained, "There should be eliminations in Davao, but I can't because I'm in Manila." MLSA