Filipina boxers Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas on cusp of Paris Olympics berths
Published March 11, 2024 11:54am Filipina boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas need just a win each to punch their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Petecio, who delivered a silver medal in the previous Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 57kg category in the 1st Olympic Qualifying Tournament […]
Tomas Kauer - News Moderator 
Filipina boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas need just a win each to punch their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Petecio, who delivered a silver medal in the previous Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 57kg category in the 1st Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy on Sunday night while Villegas entered the quarterfinals of the women’s 50kg event.
Petecio and Villegas now both need to hurdle their next foes to become the latest Filipinos to qualify to the Paris Olympics.
READ MORE | Filipino athletes qualified for 2024 Paris Olympics
In Petecio’s weight class, only the finalists will book the Olympics slot while in the women’s 50kg event of Villegas, the top four athletes will qualify.
Petecio and Villegas have been phenomenal so far in the tournament.
The 31-year-old Petecio dominated Andela Brandkovic of Serbia to kick things off, drawing a victory via a referee stoppage in the 1:02 mark of the first round to move on to the Round of 32, where she bested Maria Claudia Nechita of Romania via unanimous decision.
Petecio then weaved another unanimous decision victory against Nancy Tas of Germany in their Round of 16 clash to earn a quarterfinals berth. With no signs of fatigue, Petecio claimed a semifinals slot after a 5-0 triumph against Maud van der Toorn of the Netherlands.
Villegas, meanwhile, defeated Denmark’s Sofie Vinter Rosshaug in their Round of 16 clash with a 5-0 thrashing to advance to the quarterfinals and move a win away from her first Olympics appearance.
Petecio will take on Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey on Tuesday morning (Philippine time) while Villegas will slug it out against Zlatislava Genadieva Chukanova of Bulgaria on the same day.
Petecio and Villegas are the only Filipinos left in the qualifiers as Rogen Ladon and Carlo Paalam have both bowed out of their respective events. Other boxers in Mark Fajardo, Ronald Chavez, John Marvin, Claudine Veloso, Riza Pasuit, and Hergie Bacyadan also got booted out early in the tournament.
—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News
