By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – Two days after turning 29th, Aira Villegas received another huge gift, but this time, it was no longer a surprise.
Villegas worked hard for it — almost tripling her effort – before claiming a thrilling 3-2 win over local bet Wassila Lkhadiri in a feat that assured herself of a bronze medal in the women’s 50kg class in the Paris Olympics Saturday, Aug. 3, at the North Paris Arena inside the Villepinte Exhibition Centre in Seine-Saint-Denis.
“Very much happy with the win especially against a hometown bet,” said Villegas.
But her mission is far from over.
“I still want our national anthem be played during the awarding ceremony,” said Villegas with a smile.
But it won’t be easy.
She will be up against erstwhile tormentor Turkish Naz Buse Cakiroglu in the semis on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Knowing full well the entire nation will be praying and cheering for her, Villegas is determined to exact sweet revenge against the very fighter that beat her in the quarterfinals of the World Championships two years ago.
“Ilan lang kami sa team noon, now I have the support of the entire nation so I will try my very best,” added Villegas.
With her win, the Philippines is now 2-0 over the host nation counting the gritty 4-1win of Nesthy Petecio over Amina Zidani last Friday.
While her victory was also significant for a country out to sustain its winning tradition in the global sporting war, it was overshadowed by the gold medal win by gymnast Carlos Yulo in the floor exercise early in the day.
Villegas is not complaining though as she got the chance to avenge her crushing 5-0 defeat to the Turkish.
Cakiroglu advanced to the semis with a 5-0 thumping of Pihla Kaivo-Oja in their own quarterfinal showdown.
The contest was tight from the get go with Villegas taking a slim 3-2 lead before the Frenchwoman made the fight more interesting with a strong showing in the second round.
That led to an all-important third round.
The pride of Tacloban did no waste time and attacked the Frenchwoman with brilliant combinations to pile up points while occasionally throwing bombs with either straight or a hook.
It was a fight to remember owing to the furious exchange of shots, but in the end, the cleverness of Villegas prevailed.
