SPORTS SHORTS 184: NESTHY PETECIO EDGES IRMA TESTA OF ITALY AND ENTERS THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH, CARLO PAALAM DOMINATES MOHAMED FLISSI OF ALGERIA
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 31 Jul 2021
Nesthy Petecio is a win away from capturing the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal in boxing and the second gold overall for the country. Petecio dominated her taller opponent Irma Testa of Italy to advance into the final round of the women’s featherweight class at the Tokyo Olympics Saturday at the Kokugikan Arena.
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Petecio defeated Testa of Italy via split decision, 4-1, in the semifinals. The strong-willed Petecio is now assured of a silver medal, as she pierced into the Italian's fortification and abrogated the opponent's six-inch height advantage. The 29-year-old Petecio will go for the gold on Tuesday.
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Irma Testa, aged 23 years, was an Olympic veteran having competed in the women's lightweight event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2019 European Championships she won the gold medal in Alcobendas, Spain in the featherweight class.
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A second gold medal for the Philippines could now be within reach. Petecio initially had difficulty with Testa's longer reach when the Italian won the first round, 10-9, as scored by all five judges.
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In the second round, the Filipina fighter reversed the outcome and fought more aggressively to score a 10-9 in her favor.
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The decisive third round went to Petecio who got the favor from four judges, while one judge gave the round to Testa, who ran out of gas and resorted to clinching.
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She will next face the winner of the other semifinal bout between Sena Irie of host Japan and Karriss Artingstall of Great Britain in the gold medal match.
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Carlo Paalam is on the verge of winning a medal after a triumph in the men’s flyweight quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics in another victory for Philippine boxing. He goes for a guaranteed podium finish against Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the next round.
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Connecting clean shots effectively, Paalam badly outclassed Mohamed Flissi of Algeria for the unanimous decision conquest. The 23-year-old Filipino dealt enough power blows that rocked Flissi in the third round.
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All five judges scored the bout, 30-27 for Paalam and blanked the three-time Olympian in Flissi who also fought at the 2012 Olympics in London and at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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Flissi, aged 31 years, was taller and had the longer reach fighter but Paalam countered it with his explosive bombs and aggressive offense.
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Flissi was the silver medalist in the 2013 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan in the light flyweight class. He won a bronze medal in the 2015 Doha World Championships in the flyweight class.
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He was an two-time gold medalist in the African Championships and another gold in the All-Africa Games all in the flyweight class. He fought for Algeria Desert Hawks in the World Series of Boxing posting a 3-3 record.
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Ernest John Obiena qualified for the finals of the men’s pole vault competition of the Tokyo Olympics Saturday at Olympic Stadium. The Filipino athlete is ranked No. 6 in the world and he finished 10th overall and fifth in Group B after clearing the bar at 5.75 meters in his third attempt. He jumped easily in the 5.50m and 5.65m marks.
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American Caeleb Dressel won his third gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics with a world record in the 100-meter butterfly. Dressel defeated Hungary’s Kristof Milak to win in 49.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 49.50 that he set at the 2019 world championships. Milak, winner of the 200-meter butterfly, grabbed the silver medal.
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At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Dressel won his first gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay with teammates Michael Phelps, Ryan Held, and Nathan Adrian.
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Ethiopia's Selemon Barega sprinted in the last lap to beat world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and win a surprising Olympic gold medal in the men's 10,000 metres on Friday. It was the first athletics gold won in Tokyo. The 21-year old Barega clocked 27 minutes 43.22 seconds, ahead of world champion Cheptegei in 27:43.63.
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The U.S. women's basketball team remained undefeated. The team beat host Japan 86-69 in the preliminary round at the Tokyo Olympics and it is the team's 51st straight victory way back to the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
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In the Tokyo Olympics boxing tournament, the men contest in these eight weight classes:
Flyweight (52kg)
Featherweight (57kg)
Lightweight (63kg)
Welterweight (69kg)
Middleweight (75kg)
Light heavyweight (81kg)
Heavyweight (91kg)
Super heavyweight (+91kg)
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While the women boxers compete in these five weight classes:
Flyweight (51kg)
Featherweight (57kg)
Lightweight (60kg)
Welterweight (69kg)
Middleweight (75kg)
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Top Ten Medal standings :
1. China 20 Golds 12 Silvers 12 Bronzes
2. Japan 17 Golds 4 Silvers 8 Bronzes
3. United States 16 Golds 17 Silvers 12Bronzes
4. ROC 10 Golds 15 Silvers 11 Bronzes
5. Australia 10 Golds 3 Silvers 13 Bronzes
6. Great Britain 8 Golds 9 Silvers 10 Bronzes
7. South Korea 5 Golds 4 Silvers 6 Bronzes
8. Netherlands 4 Golds 7 Silvers 5 Bronzes
9. France 3 Golds 7 Silvers 6 Bronzes
10. Germany 3 Golds 4 Silvers 9 Bronzes
36. Philippines 1 Gold
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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