Nesthy Petecio ends Olympic run with bronze as youthful Polish marches on to final

MANILA, Philippines – An Olympic boxing gold remains elusive for the Philippines as Nesthy Petecio suffered an upset loss.

Petecio concluded her Paris Games run with a bronze after a split decision loss to Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the women’s 57kg semifinal at the Roland Garros Stadium on Wednesday, August 7 (Thursday, August 8, Manila time).

Eyeing a return trip to the final after bagging silver in the Tokyo Olympics, the 32-year-old Petecio instead got nosed out by an opponent 12 years younger as Szeremeta hacked out a 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 win.

Petecio swept the judges’ scorecard in the opening round, but the bouncy Szeremeta did enough to win the last two rounds as she advanced to the gold-medal match in her Olympic debut.

“I thought it was going my way this time. I really believed that I would get it. But the win was not given to us,” said Petecio in Filipino in an interview with Olympic broadcaster Cignal. “I’m still thankful because I fought well.”

The loss denied Petecio of another encounter with Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, who advanced to the final amid a gender row that has swept the Olympics.

Petecio beat Lin three years ago in Tokyo, but the Taiwanese exacted revenge on the Filipina in the round of 16 of the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou, China, on the way to the gold.

Her exit also meant the end of the Philippines’ quest in Paris for an Olympic boxing gold that has eluded the country in 100 years of participation in the Summer Games.

Eumir Marcial (men’s 80kg) and Hergie Bacyadan (women’s 75kg) both dropped their opening bouts, Carlo Paalam (mens 57kg) crashed out of the quarterfinals, while Aira Villegas (women’s 50kg) also snagged bronze.

Despite the loss, Petecio joined an exclusive club of Filipinos who have won multiple Olympic medals, including swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, and gymnast Carlos Yulo, and became the first boxer to do so.

Yldefonso clinched a pair of bronzes in 1928 Amsterdam and 1932 Los Angeles, Diaz won the country its first-ever Olympic gold in Tokyo five years after nailing silver in 2016 Rio de Janeiro, while Yulo bagged two golds in Paris.

Months before, Petecio hinted of Paris possibly being her final Olympic stint, although she said she plans to continue fighting as she hopes to complete her collection with an Asian Games title. – Rappler.com