Petecio demolishes opponent, is assured of at least a bronze

Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio and China’s Xu Zichun (Blue) compete in the women’s 57kg quarter-final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on August 4, 2024. —Photo by Mohd Rasfan/Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — Displaying her most efficient and fearsome form yet, Nesthy Petecio just put another medal into the Philippines’ Paris Olympics cache on Sunday night after destroying China’s Xu Zichun in their women’s 57-kilogram quarterfinal match at Paris North Arena.

Hitting the slender Chinese almost at will in the first two rounds, the 32-year-old Petecio posted her most lopsided victory in these Games that not only assured her of at least a bronze medal but also kept her bid alive in improving a silver medal effort in Tokyo 2020.

And while the Filipino is one of the most seasoned pugs left in the draw, a 20-year-old Pole stands in the way of Petecio in making the gold medal match.

Julia Szeremeta bounced around the ring and fought in a very unorthodox way, catching the seasoned Ashleyann Lozada totally off guard in carving out a unanimous decision victory that also assured Poland of its first boxing medal since the 1992 Games.

With Petecio and Aira Villegas, who is also assured of at least a bronze in the 50-kg class, the Philippines, and counting Carlos Yulo’s historic 2 golds (floor exercise and vault) in gymnastics on Saturday night, is on course toward eclipsing its showing in Japan three years ago in the COVID-delayed edition.

The winner of the Petecio-Szemereta semifinal duel will advance to face either Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who beat Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria, or Turkey’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman.