BY NICK GIONGCO
Flyweight Irish Magno took advantage of a rare chance to secure an Olympic slot after she posted a dominating win over Somaiya Qosimova of Tajikistan in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Wednesday in Amman, Jordan.
Magno was awarded a 5-0 victory and it came just a day after being denied an outright entry following a loss in the quarterfinals.
Since there are six slots being dangled in her weight class, Magno, being a quarterfinalists, was afforded the luxury of a boxoff and became the fourth Filipino to secure a Tokyo Games berth.
The two other Filipino bets assured of Tokyo Games berths are gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
But flyweight Carlo Paalam, another quarterfinalists, wasn’t so lucky after bowing to Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov, the 2019 world championships bronze medalist, in another boxoff, 4-1.
Like in Magno’s case, Paalam needed a win in the boxoff to ensure himself of a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.
Magno’s victory enabled her to join top seed middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial on the early list of qualifiers for the July 24-August 9 Olympics.
The five other Filipinos who faltered, including Paalam, will have their last chance when Paris stages the World Qualifying in mid-May.
Others who failed to make a dent in Jordan also include feather Ian Clark Bautista and welter James Palicte and women punchers Nesthy Petecio, the top seed at featherweight, and lightweight Riza Pasuit.
Meantime, Marcial outlasted pesky Indian rival Ashish Kumar on Wednesday to book a finals stint.
Marcial, 24, already assured of a berth in the Tokyo Olympics, won 4-1, and will meet Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan in the finals in a battle of world championships silver medalists.
The tournament top seed, Marcial was the 2019 worlds silver medalist in Ekatenriburg, Russia, while Amankul, 22, got his during the 2017 edition in Hamburg, Germany.
