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| Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio (red) and Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda fight during their women’s feather (54-57kg) quarter-final boxing match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on July 28, 2021. (Photo by=Frank Franklin II / POOL / AFP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Coach Don Abnett labels them with such hackneyed phrases as “bread-and-butter” or “cat and mouse”, to describe the Philippine boxing team’s game plans. The strategy itself, however, has been energizing, PH Inquirer reported.
Fighting in the slipstream of a historic triumph, Nesthy Petecio ended an 89-year wait for a Philippine delegation to win multiple medals in the Olympics with a crafty unanimous decision victory over Yeni Arias Castañeda of Colombia in the women’s boxing featherweight quarter-finals on Wednesday. “It’s my first Olympics and it’s my first medal. I feel blessed,” Petecio said after the fight at Kokugikan Arena here. Coming at the heels of Hidilyn Diaz’s historic gold-winning feat, Petecio’s victory may seem minor.
But there is no diminishing Petecio’s feat. Her quarterfinal victory assured Team Philippines of at least a bronze medal, making this the first time since 1932 that the country will take home multiple medals from the Summer Games. While she isn’t thinking of matching Diaz’s feat, she admits that the weightlifting queen’s triumph in the 55-kg women’s class generated a lot of momentum for her going into the match.
