2024 PARIS OLYMPICS 9: AIRA VILLEGAS SETTLES FOR A BRONZE, NESTHY PETECIO FIGHTS FOR A SILVER
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 07 Aug 2024
Aira Villegas settled for a bronze medal in the women’s 50 kg category of boxing of the 2024 Paris Olympics after a loss to Turkiye’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu in their semifinal round match early Wednesday morning (Manila time).
An Olympic first timer, Villegas failed to win at least a silver medal in Paris, but her Olympic debut was always worth remembering for Philippine fans.
Three judges scored the bout 30-27, while the remaining two judges saw it 30-26 all for the Turkish.
The third-seeded Cakiroglu scored a standing eight-count on Villegas after a strong solid punch to the face. The Filipina found her shots in the second round when she landed a right hand at the 1:05 mark of the round, flooring the Turkish to the canvas, but the referee declared it a slip.
In the third round, it was Cakiroglu who just would not let her guard down when she unleashed deadly punches to get away with the convincing win.
Villegas’ bronze medal brings the Philippines’ medal harvest to a total of four. Fellow boxer Nesthy Petecio is also assured of at least a bronze after a unanimous decision victory over China’s Xu Zichun in the quarterfinal on Sunday night (Manila time) at North Paris Arena. She will compete for a shot at the finals against Poland’s Julia Szeremetaon Thursday morning (Manila time).
* * *
The USA men's basketball team easily dominated Brazil in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The Americans thumped Brazil, 122-87, to advance to the semifinals, as they will play Serbia on Thursday. Devin Booker had a team-high 18 points. LeBron James had 12 points.
Kevin Durant is now the career leader in points for the U.S. basketball team in Olympic history, surpassing Lisa Leslie's record during the game against Brazil.
Durant’s basket with 3:06 left in the third quarter scored him six points in the game and 489 in his four Olympic appearances. Leslie finished her four Olympic tournaments with 488 points and winning four gold medals.
Durant is aiming to become the first men’s basketball player in Olympic history to win four golds after taking part in the U.S. teams that won championships at London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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