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Aira Villegas kicks off winning start for Philippine boxers
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PARIS – Aira Villegas skillfully handled the nagging pressure of being the first of the Philippine Fighting Five into action, capping off a lazy Sunday for the entire team with a sizzling Olympic debut.
It’s almost midnight in the City of Light as Team Philippines hurts with fencer Sam Catantan’s exit and the female gymnasts’ battle as Ms. Villegas delivered an incendiary bomb to kick things off for the sought-after boxing squad.
Ms. Villegas earned a unanimous victory over Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki in the Round of 32 of the women’s 50kg division at the North Paris Arena (beginning Monday in Manila), a victorious start that could serve as a good lead for the four other Filipinas pugs will climb the ring in the coming days.
On Tuesday it is Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial’s turn to kick off their ride to Paris.
Ms Petecio fights an Indian foe in the 57kg round of 32, while Mr Marcial takes on Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan in the 80kg round of 16.
Hopes are high that both can reach the medal rounds, as they did in their breakthrough performance in the country’s 1-2-1 gold-silver-bronze showing in Tokyo in 2021.
Swimmer Kayla Sanchez in the women’s 100 meter freestyle and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe will also be in action on Tuesday as rower Joanie Delgaco in the quarterfinals of the women’s single sculls.
There was a lot of pressure off Ms. Villegas, a 28-year-old fighter from Tacloban, who got things done in the opener against Ms. Mouttaki.
There’s also Mr. Marcial who was on his feet throughout the fight in the VIP section, with his thunderous voice also serving Ms. Villegas very well.
Facing a rival backed by the boisterous crowd, Ms. Villegas could not be deterred or overwhelmed. She defeated the Moroccan in sharp exchanges and ultimately received the nod from all the judges.
Slovak Radoslav Simon gave all three rounds (30-27) to Ms Villegas, while Canadian Wade Peterson, Guatemalan Emerson Alejandro Pastor Arreaga, Hungary’s Veronika Szucs, American Shawn Reese and Germany’s Susann Kopke also took it 29-28 called for the Philippine.
With the win, Ms. Villegas advanced to the Round of 16 against second seed Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria.
Interestingly, the two know each other well as they trained together in Germany in the run-up to the Paris Games.
Moments earlier at the Bercy Arena, Filipino gymnasts Levi Ruivivar, Emma Malabuyo and Aleah Finnegan strutted their stuff as all eyes were on American superstar Simone Biles.
Through the first three subdivisions, Ms. Biles was, as expected, at the top of the all-around leaderboard, while Mmess. Ruivivar, Malabuyo and Finnegan were 40e41st and 47e respectively.
At the end of all five divisions, the top 24 qualify for the finals.
Mrs. Finnegan was 17e of 20 in vault, Ms. Ruivivar was 40e of 80 in uneven bars, while Mrs. Malabuyo scored 57e of 79 in balance beam and 25e of 77 on floor exercises. The top eight from each event advanced. — Nelson Beltran
