University of Baguio’s Nesthy Petecio is hopeful she will still qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as she joined qualifier Irish Magno and other members of the Philippine Boxing Team at the training bubble in Calamba, Laguna.
The 28-year-old Petecio’s chances of securing an Olympics berth still hangs in the balance, as there is no word yet if the Olympics qualifying tournament set in Paris that was scrapped in May 2019 will be revived.
Petecio earlier earned an automatic qualification in the Tokyo Olympics after she won gold in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, losing only to rival Sena Irie of Japan in the 2020 Asia and Oceana Boxing Qualification Tournament quarterfinals in Amman, Jordan.
Her chance to bounce back in the Olympics qualifying tournament started to vanish after the scrapping of the Paris tournament.
Petecio remains confident she will qualify anytime soon during or after the three-month training bubble at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has been set July 23 to Aug. 8 this year.
Before joining the training bubble in Calamba, Petecio was busy with her online training while she was in her hometown in Tuban, Davao del Sur. She was in Baguio then travelled to Manila before the declaration of the pandemic last year.
The Filipino female boxer earlier admitted that joining the 2020 Olympics will greatly help her family rise from poverty, as she has been boxing for 21 years now to sustain her education and provide assistance to her family.
Petecio was a silver medalist in 2015 SEAG and the 2015 Asian Championship in China.
She came close to competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics but she fell short in the 2016 AIBA Women’s Boxing World Championships in Kazakhstan after dropping to a split-decision loss to a fighter from Morocco. – Harley F. Palangchao
April 26, 2024
