UST judo legend Tablan passes away

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

One of the greatest judokas the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) has ever seen passed away at the age of 23 due to cardiac arrest.

Dither Tablan, a two-time Men’s Judo Most Valuable Player, was rushed to the hospital yesterday but departed at 10:15 in the evening, according to multiple sources.

Tablan will forever be remembered as one of the most dominant judokas that ever set foot in the UAAP and was an unstoppable force in the heavyweight division.

He was a Sports and Wellness Management graduate in the University of Santo Tomas program and led the Golden Judokas to four championships.

In his four seasons with the Golden Judokas, Tablan would always reign supreme in the heavyweight division and was also highly regarded for his technical and skillful approach aside from his intimidating size.

Tablan was also a great Kurash grappler aside from being an accomplished Judoka and was a former national team representative during the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

His improvement in his craft never stopped and continued to step up to another level as he was able to become a member of the PH team that marched to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, and 2019 World Martial Arts Masterships.