Friday, August 15, 2008 RP bid suffers big blow Beijing Games By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
THE country's campaign in the Beijing Games suffered a jolting blow Wednesday night when boxer Harry Tañamor crashed out right in the first round to an unheralded African fighter.
The 29-year-old Tañamor, the country's lone entry for boxing but the best medal hope in the quadrennial meet, lost a tough 3-6 decision to Manyo Plange of Ghana in their light flyweight (48 kg) bout at the Worker's Gymnasium.
Tañamor's early exit sent the entire nation into a state of shock, and the defeat will surely make sports officials grope for answers as to what went wrong.
The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) headed by its president Manny Lopez had prepared Tañamor well for the Beijing Games under the watchful eyes of a Cuban coach. They may not have expected a gold from the Tañamor, but they certainly did not anticipate the boxer will exit right in his first fight.
Facing the African pug for the first time, Tañamor was clearly surprised by Plange's fighting style and the Filipino simply went down to a boxer who entered the ring well prepared.
Right at the opening bell Plange sneaked in several rights that found their target and the African quickly jumped to a 2-1 lead and coasted along from there.
With the defeat, the country is pinning its hopes on taekwondo jins Tshomlee Go and Mary Antoinette Rivero to carry the fight and resume the hunt for a first-ever Olympic gold. Go and Rivero will not see action until August 22.
On Friday, diver Sheila Mae Perez opens her campaign in the Games when she competes in the women's three-meter springboard. The preliminaries start at 1:30 p.m. at the National Aquatics Center.
The 22-year-old Perez, gold medallist in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Thailand, will be the sixth diver this afternoon. It is going to be an uphill battle for the athlete from Davao City since she will be going up against the mighty Chinese divers.
Swimmers Miguel Molina and Cristel Simms, meanwhile, improved their own personal marks but failed to qualify in the semifinals of their respective events.
Shooter Eric Ang and archer Mark Javier had earlier bowed out in their respective matches. Ang finished last in trap shooting last Sunday and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz also failed in her own bid.
Javier made it to the knockout phase in archery, but lost to Taiwanese Kuo Cheng Wei, 106-102, in their tight last 32 showdown Wednesday.
