FILIPINA bet Nesthy Petecio was off to a hot start in her 2020 Tokyo Olympics campaign after a lopsided points decision win over Democratic Republic of Congo’s Marcelat Sakobi Matshu on Saturday, July 24, 2021 at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Petecio got the nod of all five judges for a 5-0 win by points. Judges Mandakhbayar Otgonbayar, Sidali Mokretari, Maksim Sulejmani and Ramona Manuela Cobza all scored it 30-29, while Andrew Mustacchio had it closer 29-28 in favor of the 29-year-old Petecio.
Petecio faces Taiwan’s Yu-Ting Lin in the Round of the 16 of the Women’s Featherweight division on July 26, 2021.
Petecio is in for a tough fight against Lin, who is the No. 1 seed and earned a bye to the Round of 16.
Lin is the bronze medalist in the featherweight division of the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Russia. She fell short of a finals match with Petecio after a close decision defeat to Liudmila Vorontsova in the semi-finals.
On the other hand, Irish Magno takes on Kenyan Christine Ongare on Sunday, July 25, in the Women’s Flyweight division.
Magno finished 17th on the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Russia. She, however, earned a spot at the Olympics through the 2020 Asia and Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Ongare also earned her spot in the Olympics through the Olympic qualifiers. She finished bronze in the 2020 African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament to earn an Olympic berth.
Meanwhile, Kurt Bryan Barbosa was eliminated by highly-touted South Korean Jun Jang in the Round of 16 of the Men’s -58kg division in Taekwondo at the Makuhari Messe Hall A.
Jung outclassed Barbosa, 26-6.
Jang was off to a hot start and outgunned Barbosa, 12-1. Barbosa had a better job in the second round but was still outclassed by Jang, 12-5. Jan finished Barbosa off in the final round, 2-0. (EKA)