SPORTS SHORTS 85: PHILIPPINES TO SEND FOUR BOXERS TO TOKYO OLYMPICS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 21 Mar 2021
The Philippines will officially send four boxers to the Tokyo Olympics on July 23 to August 8 when Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam yesterday received slots for the Summer Games and they will try to end the long quest for the elusive Olympic gold.
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Petecio and Paalam joined Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno, who earlier claimed outright berths to the Tokyo Games thru the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan last year.
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The International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force (IOC-BTF) granted Petecio and Paalam entry to the rescheduled quadrennial event by virtue of their high rankings.
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Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary general Ed Picson said that, since the final qualifiers in Paris have been scrapped due to the pandemic, the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force filled the remaining entries through the boxing rankings.
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The best way the task force see for picking the qualified boxers is to equitably distribute it to all four continents — Asia-Oceana, Americas, Europe, Africa. In Asia, Petecio is No. 5 in her category and those Asian boxers higher ranked than her have already qualified and they are no longer in the count.
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"Same with Carlo Paalam, there were six Asian boxers ranked higher than him in his weight class and all of them have already qualified. So he climbed to No. 1," added Picson.
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The International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force, through a notice sent to the Philippine Olympic Committee, considered Petecio and Paalam as qualifiers by virtue of “their highest standing” in their respective weight classes, women’s featherweight and men’s flyweight, based on the Task Force’s rankings.
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ABAP President Ricky Vargas expressed his elation with the development and rallied support for the four boxers who will represent the Philippines in the Tokyo Games in their bid for the first Olympic gold medal.
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“Let us all get together and focus on the challenges ahead not only of our boxers but all Filipino athletes. Now, more than ever, they need us to stand firmly behind them,” said Vargas.
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With four boxers officially in the Olympics, the Philippines now has six qualified athletes to Tokyo, Japan including pole-vaulter EJ Obiena and world champion gymnast Caloy Yulo.
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Marcial will compete in the men’s middleweight class (75 kg), Magno in women’s flyweight (52 kg), Petecio in women’s featherweight (57 kg) and Paalam in men’s flyweight (52kg) category.
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For consistently qualifying Filipino athletes in the Olympics, ABAP will be awarded National Sports Association of the Year in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association virtual Awards Night on March 27 at the TV5 Media Center.
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This will be the second straight year the boxing association is being recognized with the special award in the event co-presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV, with 1-Pacman Partylist and Rain or Shine as major backers.
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Meanwhile, ABAP said it was never negligent in providing the needs of the national boxers, including Tokyo-bound Irish Magno who earlier this week posted on her Facebook page about the delay on her monthly allowance.
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ABAP president Vargas issued a bold statement when implicated on social media that the association has not done anything to address the predicament of its athletes, especially during the pandemic.
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“While we did not want to trumpet our efforts to help our athletes and coaches, we are now constrained to clarify that we have not been blind or unresponsive to their financial troubles,” said Vargas in a statement.
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“As a matter of fact, a week before Irish’s post, we indeed extended financial assistance to all our boxers and coaches. Even during the lengthy lockdown period last year, ABAP also provided cash assistance to all our boxers and coaches as far as our own finances would allow,” he added.
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The Philippine Sports Commission released the monthly allowance just a few days after Magno’s complaints, which the boxer has deleted.
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Vargas said ABAP has always rewarded the accomplishments of their boxers while recognizing the PSC as a key partner to ABAP’s success.
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“We acknowledge the sacrifices and hardships our athletes and coaches go through in the struggle for national pride. And for this, we have always seen to it that they are amply rewarded for their achievements and have taken care of their basic needs,” said Vargas.
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“We also acknowledge that the PSC has been a partner in these efforts,” added Vargas, who also said the athletes have the right to exercise freedom of speech.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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