Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio secured the Philippines’ second medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after barging into the semi-finals of the women’s featherweight on Wednesday at the Kokugikan Arena.
Petecio scored a dominant 5-0 unanimous decision over Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda, taking control of the bout from the beginning.
The 2019 World Championships featherweight winner, Petecio switched stances to keep her opponent guessing, while landing effective blows throughout three rounds.
It will be the first multi-medal finish for the Philippines at an Olympiad since the 1932 Los Angeles Games, when the contigent won three bronze medals.
In 1932, the three Filipinos who medaled were: Simeon Toribio in high jump, Jose Villanueva in bantamweight boxing, and Teofilo Yldefonso in men’s 200-meter breaststroke.
On the other hand, Filipina swimmer Remedy Rule unfortunately did not advance to the medal round, finishing the women’s 200-meter butterfly semi-finals with a time of 2:12.89, which is the second slowest time among 16 semi-finalists.
Petecio will still compete in the semi-finals on Saturday, July 31 against Italy’s Irma Testa, needing just two wins from another gold medal.
Fellow boxers Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam, and Eumir Marcial are still all in contention to medal at the games.
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