Davao native Nesthy Petecio and Tacloban City-born Aira Villegas are just within one win from securing tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympics having defeated their respective rivals in the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event in Busto Arsizio, Italy.
The 31-year-old Petecio, a Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medalist, welled up with tears of joy and relief upon being declared the winner by unanimous decision (5-0) against the taller and younger Dutch boxer, Maud van der Toorn, in their womens' 57-kilogram division quarterfinals encounter, which took place past 2 a.m. Monday, March 11, 2024, (Philippine time).
Despite facing an initial setback in the first round where her 18-year-old rival took a slight lead in points, Petecio drew on her extensive experience.
The Dabawenya boxer, 2019 Aiba women's world champion, exhibiting patience throughout the match, rebounded with a flurry of well-timed power punches, showcasing her speed, stamina, and nimble footwork in the last two rounds. The five judges unanimously scored the fight, 29-28, in her favor.
As the tournament only has two quotas for the women's 57kg class, Petecio just needs to pull off another victory against Esra Yildiz of Turkey in the semifinals to claim a return trip to the Olympics. The Turkish boxer subdued Elise Glyn of Great Britain, 4-1.
Petecio, in a report by Olympics.com, said she is going all out in a chance to earn a Paris 2024 spot in what could be her last Olympics.
She openly acknowledged the mounting pressure as the Paris Olympics drew near, feeling the weight of both the approaching event and the expectations of the Filipino nation – a pressure she had already experienced during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Before advancing to the featherweight semifinals, Petecio, who copped a gold medal in the Boxam Elite Tournament in La Nucia, Alicante, Spain last month, secured victories through stoppage and unanimous decisions against Van der Toorn, Nancy Canan Tas of Germany, Maria Claudia Nechita of Romania, and Andela Brankovic of Serbia.
Meanwhile, Villegas dominated Sofie Vinter Rosshaug of Denmark with a 5-0 unanimous decision triumph in the women's lightweight (50kg) Round of 16 held late Sunday evening, March 10 (Philippine time).
Villegas must defeat her quarterfinal opponent Genadieva Zlatislava Chukanova of Bulgaria to secure her spot at the Paris Olympics, with the first world qualifier allocating four slots for the top four boxers in the women's 50kg event.
Unfortunately, the journeys of Carlo Paalam and Rogen Ladon in the tournament ended.
Paalam, a silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, conceded defeat in his men's featherweight (57kg) clash against Shukur Ovezov of Turkmenistan due to a sustained shoulder injury from his previous bout with Mexico’s Andrey Bonilla.
Ladon, on the other hand, bowed to Great Britain's Kiaran Macdonald (1-4) in their men's 51kg fight. MLSA