MANILA, Philippines – Nesthy Petecio bagged another bronze medal for the Philippines in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist lost on points via split decision, 4-1 to young Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta in the semifinals of the women's 57kg division, Wednesday (early Thursday in Manila).
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| Photo courtesy: Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)/Reuters |
The judges scored the fight, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, in favor of Szeremeta.
It's the fourth medal for the Philippines, after Carlos Yulo's two golds in men's artistic gymnastics and Aira Villegas' bronze in the women's 50kg in boxing.
𝟐𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐙𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇! 🥉🇵🇭
— Philippine Sports Commission (@psc_gov) August 7, 2024
Nesthy Petecio goes home with the country's fourth Olympic medal in the #Paris2024 Summer Games! pic.twitter.com/88UvnOR6As
The 32-year-old boxer took the first round with her aggressive approach as she swept the judges' score card.
However, the 20-year old Szeremeta showed quality punches in the second round. She evened up the match with four judges giving her the nods.
In the third round, the Polish boxer continued her might with Petecio at one point was brought to the floor. Szeremeta this time swept the judges' scorecard and claimed victory.
Szeremeta will advance to the final round against Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei, who Petecio defeated in the round of 16 at Tokyo 2020.
Despite the loss in the Paris Olympics, Petecio also made history, joining an elite group of Pinoy athletes with multiple Olympic medals along with Yulo, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and swimmer Teófilo Yldefonso.
— The Summit Express
