AFTER years of waiting, she has fulfilled a long-sought dream.
Nesthy Alcayde Petecio of Davao del Sur assured herself of a first-ever World medal after cruising through the semi-finals of the Aiba Women's World Championships Friday evening in Jeju Island, South Korea.
The 22-year-old Petecio, whose promising amateur boxing career started with the Abap-Calinan boxing team of former Davao City councilor Louie Villafuerte, eked out a shutout victory over Lu Qiong of China in their women's featherweight quarter-finals clash, to secure her of at least a bronze.
Judges MikBasi of England, Igor Biletskiy of Ukraine and Ramona Cobzac of Romania scored the bout in similar 40-36. She also pulled off unanimous wins over Maryna Malovana of Ukraine, Linnea Strandell of Sweden and Manel Meharzi of Algeria.
"Abot langit gyud akong kalipay nga makamedalya sa World. Pila na pud ka World tournament nga wala koy nakuha nga medal ba puro lang ko quarter finalist (My joy could reach heaven with winning a World medal. How many Aiba World championships had passed and I just ended up in the quarter-finals). God is good all the time," Petecio said in a Facebook chat interview with Sun.Star Davao after the fight.
The two-time Southeast Asian Games silver medalist and China Open 2012 champion came home empty-handed in her first Asian Games debut in Incheon, South Korea last August. Thus, fighting in the medal round of the Aiba World was a redemption of sorts.
In a separate chat, Coach Roel Velasco said: "Nagpapasalamat ako kay Lord na ginagabayan nya po kami sa araw-araw po. At kay Nesthy dahil nagbunga na po ang pinaghirapan po naming sa ensayo po." Velasco also said, "Lalong matutuwa po ako pag nasungkit po naming ang gintong medalya."
The veteran coach couldn't be prouder of his ward who kept up an aggressive play all throughout the four-round fight, targetting Lu Qiong's body and face. "Laging sapol sa left straight ni Nesthy po ang Chinese. Nung last round napo, pinaglalaruan na sya ni Nesthy."
Amateur Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (Abap) executive director Ed Picson, in an e-mail to Sun.Star Davao, said Petecio's "taller opponent, a 21 year-old student of Xian Sports University was time and again frustrated by the surprise hooks and uppercuts that seemed to come out of nowhere from Petecio. The latter also switched to a southpaw stance for the second time in the tournament, further bewildering the opposition".
The Filipina's demolition job over the Chinese was her fourth straight unanimous decision victory.
Team manager Karina Picson, as quoted by Ed, said "Nesthy is in superb condition and is grimly determined yet has kept her humorous disposition outside the ring. We are optimistic about her chances but Nesthy herself is not leaving anything to chance. Coaches Roel Velasco and Violito Payla are working with her to map out strategies for her semifinal bout."
She faces American Tiara Brown who defeated Wen-Ling Chen of Chinese Taiepei in a split decision, 2-1.
velasco said Brown is also a tough opponent, adding, "Malakas din pero kakayanin ni Nesthy po. Ang game plan namins a body pa rin ang target naming dahil nag hi-head target po yung taga USA."
Velasco and Petecio trained yesterday morning and will again resume for another session as of press time.
Flashback
Petecio grew up in a big family in Tuban, Sta. Cruz. She is the eldest child among five children of Teodoro, a former laborer at Iluminada Farms in Bago Gallera, Talomo, Davao City and Prescilla, a housewife. She also has two other adopted siblings.
Teodoro taught her the basics of boxing in their backyard in Tuban. So when Teodoro landed a job at the farm, he brought the entire family to Davao City and moved in Bago Gallera. It was then that Petecio was recruited to join the Abap-Calinan Boxing Team and made her debut in the Smart National Youth and Women's Open Boxing Championships in Cagayan de Oro City in 2007. She brought home the women's 50 kilogram gold, sealing her spot in the women's national boxing team.
At 15, she sought greener pastures in Manila as a national athlete. In 2009, She clinched a gold in the Dual Match held in Guam but settled for a bronze in the Asian Cup held in China in 2010. She recovered with another golden feat in the 2010 MVP International Friendship Cup held in Manila. She also won a gold in the 21st President's Cup Boxing Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2011.
Since then she has donned the country's colors in bigger tournaments like the SEA Games (Indonesia and Myanmar) and just recently in the Incheon Asian Games.