Bittersweet gold for Davao's Umayan

Davao City’s Woman National Master (WNM) Samantha Umayan clinched the women’s board 2 gold medal as her team, Far Eastern University (FEU), secured the bronze in the recently concluded University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 Chess Championships.

"Happy na malungkot po siguro (Maybe I’m happy but also a little sad)," the Dabawenya ace from Buhangin told SunStar Davao in a Messenger interview. "I'm happy po na nag gold ako pero at the same hindi ko po siya masyado naramdaman kasi pag Uaap po kasi, mas important po talaga sa amin yung team standing kaysa sa individual (I’m happy that I won gold, but at the same time, I didn’t really feel it that much because in the Uaap, what matters more to us is the team’s standing rather than individual achievements)."

She shared that even though she captured the individual gold, she still felt a bit down because her team didn’t win the championship this season.

National University (NU) emerged as champion with 25 points, followed by De La Salle University (DLSU) with 23 points, while FEU placed third with 21 points.

Umayan’s teammates included WNM Mhage Gerriahlou Sebastian, WFMs April Joy Claros and Franchesca Largo, WNM Vic Glysen Derotas, and Joyce Rianna Mae Rueda.

The 15th-seeded Umayan, an 18-year-old BS Psychology sophomore, tallied seven points in nine matches. She pulled off impressive back-to-back wins against the second-seeded Ma. Elayza Villa of Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) in the sixth and 13th rounds. She also defeated Precious Day Yecia of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the first round, drew in the eighth, and triumphed over Ma. Christina Samarita of Adamson University in the second round, Phoebie Angel Arellano in the ninth, and Juzeia Marielle Agne in the 14th.

Umayan lost to NU’s Jersey Marticio in the third round and split the point with Maryss Annxeniel Caldoza of the University of the Philippines (UP) in the 12th.

"Actually, akala ko po silver lang ako kasi maganda po yung performance ni Jersey, yung board 2 po ng NU (Actually, I thought I would only get silver because Jersey, NU’s board 2, performed really well)," said Umayan, who also captured both the board 5 gold and team gold in last year’s Uaap Season 87.

In June 2025, Umayan swept all seven of her matches to capture the title in the Philippine Academy for Chess Excellence (PACE) Standard FIDE Rated Event – 2000 Under category. MLSA