By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Nesthy Petecio pounced on her Romanian rival to advance to the next round while four Filipinos succumbed in their respective bids on Thursday, March 7, in the World Qualification Tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics in Busto Arsizio, Italy.
The 31-year-old Petecio, who seeks a second Olympics appearance, dominated Maria Claudia Nechia via unanimous decision to book a spot in the Round of 16 of the women’s 57kg division.
Banking on her experience that won her the silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games, Petecio aims to keep the momentum going when she next clashes with German Nancy Canan Tas on Friday, March 8.
Tas also made her campaign felt after walloping Vietnamese Nguyen Huyen Tran with a referee-stopped-contest victory in the 2:10 mark of the second round.
Petecio, however, needed three more wins as only two Olympic berths are allocated in her weight class.
Teen sensation Mark Ashley Fajardo’s ambitious bid, meanwhile, came to an end after yielding to Colombian Jose Manual Viafara in a stinging 3-2 split decision in the Round of 32 of the men’s 63.5kg division.
The 19-year-old Cebuano won the scorecards of his Moroccan and Iran judges, but earned a 29-28 defeat from American, Ukrainian and Polish judges.
Claudine Veloso’s campaign in the women’s 54kg also got derailed after losing via unanimous decision over Japanese Mikoto Harada in her first match.
Also getting shown the door were John Marvin in the men’s 92kg and Ronald Chavez Jr. in the men’s 71kg.
Still fresh from his victory over his Iranian foe the day before, Marvin had less time to recover and absorbed a close 3-2 split decision loss to Togolese Kevin Prudence Lonlon Ko Kuadjovi.
Chavez, for his part, got overpowered by Zeyad Eashash as the referee stopped the contest in the 2:15 mark of the first round to award the victory to the Jordanian fighter.
Meanwhile, Aira Villegas and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam start their respective campaigns on Friday after earning opening round byes.
Villegas clashes with Canada’s Mckenzie Wright in the women’s 50kg, while Paalam squares off with Mexico’s Andrey Bonilla in the men’s 57kg.
