TOKYO Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio began her redemption campaign of sorts by beating her opponent from Thailand in the Asian Boxing Confederation Asian Elite Men and Women Championships on Saturday night in Amman, Jordan.
Petecio, who settled for a disappointing bronze medal at the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games last May, beat Nilawan Techasuep, 3-2, to advance to the women’s featherweight semifinals for a guaranteed bronze finish.
“She almost ran out of gas in the last round, it seems like she’s still adjusting,” Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines Secretary General Marcus Jarwin Manalo told BusinessMirror via Internet message Sunday. “Great to see her back at 57 kgs, but there’s work to do.”
“Her accuracy and power are still there though…hoping she’ll move better in the semifinals,” Manalo added.
Petecio takes on Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan in the semifinals Monday.
Her fellow silver medalist in Tokyo, Carlo Paalam, also made his presence felt Saturday in his new weight class, men’s bantamweight, as he blasted Turkmenistan Muhanov Dovlet, 5-0, to advance to Sunday’s quarterfinals, where he faced South Korean Joosung Yoon.
James Palicte battled Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdulaev in a men’s light welterweight quarterfinals also Sunday.
Hergie Bacyadan was assured of a bronze medal after she was seeded straight into the women’s middleweight semifinals against Ruzmetova Sokhiba of Uzbekistan on Wednesday.
Welterweight Marjon Piañar, minimum weight Mark Lester Durens, flyweights Rogen Ladon and Tokyo Olympian Irish Magno, as well as bantamweight Maricel Dela Torre lost their respective bouts Saturday.