Bacyadan advances

MANILA, Philippines — From being a wushu practitioner to vovinam world champion, Hergie Bacyadan’s craving for success has brought her two steps away from becoming a boxing Olympian.

Fueled yet again by her burning desire for glory, Bacyadan smashed Dunia Martinez of Spain in their women’s 75-kilogram class round-of-32 duel in the second World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand Monday night.

Bacyadan, a Kalinga Apayao fighter who won the World Vovinam Championship crown in Vietnam last year, didn’t leave anything to chance as she utterly dominated her pitiful foe, drawing the nod of all five judges, 30-25, 30-26, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.

The one-sided win catapulted Bacyadan straight to the round-of-16 where she will battle former world champion Veronika Nakota of Hungary, who breezed past Sweden’s Love Holgersson in another unanimous decision result.