SPORTS FACTS AND FIGURES 60: NESTHY PETECIO AND AIRA VILLEGAS WIN BUT CARLO PAALAM AND ROGEN LADON LOSE IN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 11 Mar 2024
Petecio (L) and Villegas (R).
Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas now need just one win each to book their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics. They both have to beat their next opponents to become the latest Filipinos to qualify for the Olympics.
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Tokyo Games silver medalist Petecio advanced to the semifinals of the women's 57kg category in the 1st Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy last Sunday while Villegas entered the quarterfinals of the women's 50kg event.
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Petecio scored a 5-0 victory over Dutch fighter Maud Van der Toorn and advanced to the semifinals of her category as she moved closer to securing a slot in the Paris Olympics this coming July.
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Aira Villegas meanwhile, blanked Sofie Vinter of Denmark, 5-0, to advance to the quarterfinals to boost her own Paris endeavor.
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Petecio will face Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey, who defeated Great Britain’s Elise Glynn with a 4-1 split decision. Yildiz also competed in the Tokyo Olympics, but in a heavier 60kg weight class where she reached the quarterfinals.
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Villegas eyes nothing but a seat in Paris when she meets Bulgarian Zlatislava Genadieva Chukanova, who dominated Jordanian Hanan Nassar with a 5-0 decision.
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Carlo Paalam will have to work for his Olympic slot in another qualifier. The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist was pulled from the fight against Turkmenistan’s Shukur Ovezov because of a shoulder injury he incurred in his win over Mexican Andrea Bonilla in his previous fight. The match was stopped at the 52-second mark of the second round.
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Rogen Ladon suffered a 4-1 loss to British Kiaran MacDonald. Paalam and Ladon, as well as the six other Filipino fighters who earlier were defeated in the qualifier, will have their last chance to book their Olympic tickets in the second World Qualification on May 23 to June 3 in Bangkok, Thailand.
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The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in California by a score of 120-109, and LeBron James led the scorers with 29 points. Anthony Davis had a very impressive game and finished with 27 points, 25 rebounds, five assists, seven steals and three blocks while shooting 9/17 from the field in 39 minutes of playing time. He became the first player in the NBA to record 25+ points, 25+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and 5+ steals in a game.
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Sports History: March 11, 1892. The 1st public basketball game in Springfield, Massachusetts. The players included Naismith himself and also the famous football coach Alonzo Stagg who was a member of the Springfield College staff at that time. Stagg scored the only basket for the faculty team.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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