De La Salle University held the jersey retirement of Olympian and former Lady Paddler Ian “Yanyan” Lariba earlier today at the Enrique M. Razon Sports Center. Yanyan is the first table tennis player and second female athlete to have her jersey retired by La Salle.
Overall, she is the fifth athlete to have her jersey retired by DLSU as she joins an elite group of athletes with the likes of basketball players Kurt Bachmann (33), Lim Eng Beng (14), and Renren Ritualo (4), and volleyball legend Manilla Santos (14). She is also the first athlete to have a jersey retired without a number.
The ceremony was graced with messages coming from her family, her former teammate, her head coach during her UAAP stint with the Green-and-White, and several members of the Lasallian community. Those invited to speak talked about Yanyan’s life as a Lasallian student-athlete and as an outstanding table tennis player who represented the country.
The legacy she left
Yanyan had an incredible run during her collegiate career. She also competed in the table tennis tourney of the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she was the flag bearer of the Philippines.
Lariba began her UAAP career being awarded Rookie of the Year in season 74, and was a three-time Most Valuable Player in seasons 75, 77, and 78. She was a back-to-back Athlete of the Year in seasons 77 and 78 as well.
With the jersey retirement of Yanyan, this opportunity gives chances to other sports, aside from basketball and volleyball, to have their jerseys retired by La Salle. Of the five jerseys, the former Lady Paddler’s is the only one who has no number, instead it was the same paddle and ball used in table tennis games that was placed under her name.
Rationale behind
The jersey retirement ceremony of the Olympian came almost eights months after her untimely passing after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia September 2 of last year. “I was so devastated,” team manager of the DLSU Table Tennis Team, Emmanuel Bocaling recalled.
“In team sports, [like basketball and volleyball], you can retire a number. What I wanted was to put banners not just to retire numbers, but to honor players—athletes that have done a lot for La Salle,” Bocaling explained.
Wanting DLSU to honor the accomplishments Yanyan had achieved for the University, Bocaling filed a request to the Office of Sports Development (OSD) for retiring the jersey despite not having a number. The process of Lariba’s jersey retirement took OSD approximately eight months to approve the proposal of the team manager.
Effects on the sports
Last season’s Lady Paddler team captain Jamaica Sy felt proud that Yanyan’s jersey was retired, saying that it gives inspiration to DLSU athletes knowing that a different sport other than basketball or volleyball can be acknowledged.
“They’ll take the example of Yanyan not only being good in their sports but also being good in their academics [so] that La Salle would appreciate them in the same manner,” Bocaling said.
