Aira Villegas forges tight win to guarantee bronze for Team PH

Philippines’ Aira Villegas, right, celebrates after defeating France’s Wassila Lkhadiri in their women’s 50kg quarterfinal boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Caught in a point of time that could end up defining them, two Filipino Olympians decided on one thing.

This was their moment, and no one was taking it away.

“This isn’t the perfect competition but … [it was] the perfect moment for me,” Carlos Yulo told Olympics broadcaster OneSports.

Yulo was all over every possible media platform late Saturday evening (Manila time) after ruling the floor exercise of men’s artistic gymnastics at Bercy Arena for Team Philippines’ first gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

It was easy to get lost in the celebration of what was only the second gold of the country in Olympics history. So understandably lost that it was easy to overlook what happened a few hours later, about 15 kilometers away in North Paris Arena.

There, Aira Villegas fought a familiar tormentor in Wassila Lkhadiri in the quarterfinals of the 50-kilogram class of women’s boxing.

The bout was so tight that by the end of the second round each fighter had a judge voting for them, with the three other judges deadlocked.

Lkhadiri had defeated Villegas previously, in a tournament in Bulgaria last year. The Filipino faced an even daunting task before dawn broke Sunday morning. Lkhadiri was in her home venue, her morale coddled by a packed crowd of French fans who roared at every punch she threw, regardless if it was a one-hit counter to defuse a pinpoint combination from Villegas. “Coach asked me, ‘will you allow her to take this?’ I told him, ‘no. This is mine,’” Villegas told the Filipino TV crew.

It didn’t seem that way early in the third, when a crunching left hook seemingly gave the Frenchwoman the advantage in the third round. It was a scary situation to be for Villegas. All Lkhadiri needed to do at that point was to coast to the final bell. In a bout as close as theirs had been, a hometown decision would not have raised that much of a howl. “I kept [telling myself] ‘this is mine’ … It’s OK if she hits me; all I needed was a clear punch,” Villegas said.

And so the rest of the third round, she hunted. And punched. Hunted. Punched. Hunted. Punched.

Equally motivated

She was scoring on combinations and clean landings, but every time Lkhadiri came under attack, she managed to land sniper-like counters. And those hits generated roars that could sway even the most astute judges.

The cheers emboldened Lkhadiri. But it had the same effect on Villegas, who now had added motivation: She sought the sweet silence of a partisan crowd.

“… I didn’t care if they were cheering for her, it just boosted me even more. I needed to quiet that crowd,” she said.

The silence came when the verdict was around. Even the jeers were scattered.

Villegas won on three judges’ score cards, all 29-28s, while a stunned Lkhadiri, who stuck her tongue out in wide-eyed disbelief, won on two judges’ cards, 30-27 and 29-28.

The Filipino flyweight guaranteed the Philippines another Olympic medal, a bronze—for now. She still has a chance to polish that to a shinier color.

Villegas will face Turkiye’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu in the semifinals on Aug. 7 (Manila time), with the winner advancing to the final of the 50-kg category assured of a silver medal.

Cakiroglu defeated Pihla Kaivo-Oja of Finland, 5-0, in their quarterfinal showdown.

A win in the final will add to the country’s budding Olympic gold collection.

And the gymnast Yulo knows how Villegas would feel if she completes that goal.

“It’s really overwhelming to have this experience,” Yulo said. “I always say experience, experience and there’s no problem there but this is the one that will leave a mark in my heart and the whole Philippines.”

The 24-year-old two-time world champion and now Olympic champion was competing in the vault finals at press time.

He already has stamped his moment in Paris, one that he will get to share with a nation overflowing with gratitude.

“I’m not the only one who won this [floor exercise gold medal],” he said.

Pretty soon, Villegas will find out that in forging her own moment, she will do so in the embrace of an entire country. INQ