Four University of Baguio student-athletes are among the world’s best boxers as they reached a prominent place in the recently released Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) rankings.
Leading the UB athletes is Nesthy Petecio who placed second behind Yu-Ting Lin of Chinese Taipei in the 57-kilogram category for women.
“Isang hakbang na lang para sa rank one. Kinapos ako ng konti sa Olympic qualifier kaya ‘di ko nakuha. Next time akin na ‘yang slot na iyan,” Petecio said in her Facebook post.
Petecio is referring to the Olympic qualifier, which was supposedly staged in Paris, France last May but was postponed.
Back in 2017, Petecio was also ranked second in the 54-kg She lost to Japan’s Sena Irie in the quarterfinals of the Amman Games in Jordan denying her of the Olympics, which teammate and schoolmate Irish Magno has secured in the same competition.
The Olympics-bound Magno is not included in the AIBA ranking as the latter did not see action in the AIBA held October last year.
The rest of the top 10 in the 57-kg category are Omelia Gabrielle Wahner of Germany at third followed by Sonia (one name) of India and Kariss Artingstall of England.
Occupying the sixth to 10th slots are Jemyma Betrain of The Netherlands, Stanamira Petrova of Bulgaria, Leonela Sanchez of Argentina, Liudmila Vorontsova of Russia, and Junhua Yin of China.
Other UB students in the AIBA rankings are former world champion Josie Gabuco, who is tied at 10th place in the 48-kg division led by Russian Ekaterina Palcteva; and Aira Villega, eighth in the 54-kg category ruled by Hsiao Wen Huang of Chinese Taipei.
Flyweight Carlo Paalam, who failed to get an Olympic slot in Amman, Jordan last March, is ranked 12th which is ruled by Amit (one name) of India. – Ofelia C. Empian.
April 23, 2024
