Aparri joins Petecio in Asian ring semis

ULAAN BAATAR, Mongolia—Flyweight Alice Kate Aparri relied on her experience and ring savvy to outpoint Vietnam’s Tuyet Mai Nguyen Thi Thursday and join Nesthy Petecio in the semifinals of the 6th Asian Women’s Boxing Championships here.

Although the judges gave Aparri a lopsided 25-14 win, the veteran Baguio fighter needed all her skill and guile to turn back the hard-fighting Vietnamese. The score was 5-3 for Aparri in the first round, 12-6 after the second and 17-10 after the third.

But delegation head and Abap executive Ed Picson acknowledged that the road to the finals “is anything but rosy” for the PLDT-Abap boxing team.

“We can’t take anything for granted,” Picson said.

Aparri advanced against the stylish Mery Kom of India, who has beaten her in three previous meetings.

Petecio, who gained the bantam-weight medal round Wednesday, will also have her hands full against another skilled boxer, Luo Keija of China.

Light flyweight Josie Gabuco, the third PH fighter, lost her opening bout also Wednesday.

After a rest day Friday, the semifinals of the tournament, a testing ground for Olympic hopefuls, will be held Saturday. The finals will be on Sunday.

Picson said the girls are inspired by “words of encouragement” from Abap president Ricky Vargas, who has been monitoring developments in Mongolia.