Petecio, Villegas stay on hunt for Paris Olympic boxing berths
MANILA, Philippines – One step.
That is what Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas would need to book a ticket to this July’s Paris Olympics after the two valiant Filipinas fought the fight of their lives in turning back their respective foes Sunday in the World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy.
Petecio, the Tokyo Games silver medalist and former world champion, used her vast experience in overcoming a slow start and outlasting a taller and upset-conscious Maud Van der Toorn of the Netherlands in their women’s 57-kilogram quarterfinal duel.
That sent the 31-year-old Davao del Sur to the semifinals where she will clash with Turkey’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman, a 4-1 winner over Great Britain’s Elise Glynn, and a triumph closer to claiming a Paris berth since only two quota places were allotted to her division.
For Villegas, she trounced Denmark’s Sofie Vinter Rosshaug, 5-0, to leapfrog to the women’s 50kg quarterfinals and move a win closer to snatching one of the four Olympic spots allotted to her class.
In the quarters, Villegas will battle a dangerous Zlatislava Genadieva Chukanova, who surged through with a 5-0 result over Jordan’s Hanan Nassar, and the Filipina is expected to give it her all again to earn that glorious Olympic experience.
The pair of magnificent results somehow helped ease the pain of heartbreaking, soul-zapping defeats suffered by Tokyo silver winner Carlo Paalam and Olympian Rogen Ladon.
Paalam had to stop his match in the 52-second mark of the second round after failing to endure the excruciating pain of the shoulder injury he sustained from his previous fight and conceded to Turkmenistan’s Shuku Ovezov in their men’s 57kg showdown.
For Ladon, he succumbed to Great Britain’s Kiaran MacDonald, 4-1, and crashed out.
Mercifully, Paalam, Ladon and the rest of the Filipino pugs dreaming the Olympic dream will have one final chance at it as they are expected to be sent again in the last doorway to Paris—the second World Qualification Tournament set May 23 to June 3 in Bangkok, Thailand.
