Paris Olympics: Aira Villegas gives PH boxing team start it needs

Philippines’ Aira Villegas (in blue) fights against Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki in the women’s 50kg preliminaries round of 32 boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on July 28, 2024. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

The core of the crack Philippine boxing delegation plunges into action in the Paris Olympics on Tuesday with Games first-timer Aira Villegas getting the team off on the right foot with a swashbuckling conquest of a Moroccan foe in the opening round of the women’s 50-kilogram division.

Villegas scored a 5-0 win over Yasmine Mouttaki at North Paris Arena in France on Monday, giving the rest of the team the jumpstart it needs as Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial climb the same ring looking to better performances that fell just short of the gold medal in Tokyo 2020.

The 28-year-old Villegas, who became emotional after the win, will be clashing with Algerian fighter Roumaysa Boualam, the second-seed, on Friday at 2 a.m.

SCHEDULE: Team Philippines at Paris Olympics 2024

“I am just happy because all the help that [coach Rey Galido] has given me is finally bearing fruit,” a sobbing Villegas told PH journalists in Filipino after her win, praising Galido, who saw action in the Athens Games.

“He continues to push me, even in times when I doubt myself,” Villegas, who has been under the tutelage of Galido for the past six years, said.

“Wala siyang sini-sino (she’s not afraid of anyone),” Galido later said when asked what the key to the Villegas win was. Galido is confident that Villegas has a great chance against Boualam, a practice mate when the PH team was in Metz for its training camp, the last stop for pugs of both countries before making their way to Paris.

“She knows her moves,” Galido said. “It’s a matter of execution when fight day comes.”

Petecio, meanwhile, opens her quest to finish Olympic business that started in Tokyo.

Team Philippines in Paris Olympics 2024: Meet the athletes

“Walang hinto, hangga’t walang ginto (I won’t stop until I win gold),” Petecio said on the eve of her match with India’s Jasmine Lamboria in the women’s 57-kg opener, echoing her pronouncement in Japan where she settled for a silver medal.

Marcial, meanwhile, drew a first round bye and will face Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev in the round-of-16 on July 31 at 3:04 a.m. in Manila.Rematch with Lopez

A bronze medalist in Tokyo who already owns a glittering professional resume, Marcial can wind up facing reigning Olympic champion Arlen Lopez of Cuba if he dispatches his Uzbek foe.

And beyond that, a bevy of formidable foes awaits Marcial, who remains undaunted by the kind of opposition he will be facing in what he had said would be his last stab at Olympic glory.

“They will see,” Marcial said in Filipino, when asked what kind of a battle plan he has for his potential opponents on the way to a gold medal, counting No. 1-ranked Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan of China, who conquered the PH bet in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

Meanwhile, the trio of Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Ruivivar kept slim chances of making it to the final round of artistic gymnastics despite impressive Olympics debuts late Sunday night at Bercy Arena in France.

After three subdivisions, the Filipino-Americans didn’t make it to the top 24 of the all-around as Ruivivar and Malabuyo placed 28th and 29th, respectively. They had identical scores of 51.099, while Finnegan placed 33rd with 50.498 points.

With two more subdivisions to go on Monday night in Manila, only the top 24 will advance to the all-around final, while the top eight in each of the apparatuses compete for medals. Only two gymnasts from each country will advance to the finals.

Finnegan made a top 10 finish in the vault with 13.383 for a reserve spot in the apparatus final on Saturday. She placed 27th in floor exercise with 12.733 points, 37th in uneven bars (12.566), and 43rd in balance beam (11.466). —With reports from Lance D. Agcaoilo, Rommel Fuertes INQ