Philippine taekwondo legend Stephen Fernandez was galvanized as he sat down to serve as analyst for the NCAA Season 96 poomsae men's tournament on Monday.
Fernandez, a two-time Filipino Olympian, bared Alfritz Arevalo of the San Beda University and Ivan Murray Solimen of College of Saint Benilde were the two student-athletes who impressed him the most with their performances of Taegeuk 8 and taebaek.
The two topped the tourney as Arevalo won the gold with a tally of 7.217 while Solimen came second with 7.134 points.
"He (Arevalo) definitely prepared well for this competition and if I would be the one to give him a score, he would definitely get a high one especially on the presentation," said Fernandez, who took over the panel alongside newest Kapuso commentator Anton Roxas.
Fernandez also gave kudos to Solimen, who was only some points short of bagging the gold plum.
"The combination of his movements are very natural and relaxed," Fernandez said of Solimen.
But despite the SBU and CSB representatives ruling the competition, Fernandez, who now serves as the athletic director of Benilde, said everyone was deserving of credits for preparing hard amid a pandemic.
"All of their performances are really impressive and they showed that they really prepared for the two poomsae of taekwondo," Fernandez said.
After Arevalo and Solimen, Roi Vinson Belano of host Colegio de San Juan de Letran finished in third place with 7.083 points.
Christian Dave Tayrus of the Arellano University wound up in fourth place with 6.617 points followed by San Sebastian's John Harold Estoy (6.417) and Jose Rizal University's Mikko Jeremi Bataoil (6.284) in fifth and sixth places, respectively.
Jake Aldrin Ramos of Lyceum and Ralph Laurenz Gasco of EAC, meanwhile, finished last with 6.150 and 6.033 points, respectively.
Perpetual and Mapua University opted not to join the competition.
Watch ‘Rise Up Stronger: NCAA Season 96’ on GTV every weekday (2:45 p.m.), Saturdays (4:30 p.m.), and Sundays (5:05 p.m.) on GTV.
—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News
