Bornea, Marcial in semis

Filipino hopefuls Jade Bornea and Eumir Felix Marcial hurdled their respective rivals yesterday to barge into the semifinals of the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships at Subic gym in Subic Freeport.

Bornea dumped Rakhmankul Avatov of Kyrgyzstan, 16-6, in the 49-kilogram division while World Youth champion Marcial whipped China’s Wang Qingqui, 19-11, in the 64kg division.

Three other Filipinos were eyeing semifinal seats at presstime.

Flyweight (52 kg) Ian Clark Bautista is pitted against Sagidyk Moldashev of Kazakhstan, bantamweight (56 kg) Jonas Bacho against Nursuitan Nisanbaev of Uzbekistan, and lightweight (60 kg) James Palicte against Nagesh A Kharare of India.

“I just read his (Wang) moves,” said Marcial, a fourth year high school student at University of Baguio. “I also watched his straight so that I can counter.”

Heavier by more than 10 pounds from the time he won the gold in Kazakhstan two years ago, Marcial said the extra weight made him a little bit slower.

Marcial will take on Anvar Turamov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. The Uzbek crushed Kyrgyzstan’s Izatillo Shermakhammadov, 18-9.

Bornea, the World Junior bronze medal winner from General Santos City, will face Turkmenistan’s Shatlykyrat Myradov—an 11-8 winner over Iran’s Houman Myradov  in the other quarterfinal fight on Friday.

“I got him right at the start because he was small and easy to hit,” said Bornea, also a high school senior at UB. “I just needed to keep my distance.”

Attacking furiously from the opening bell, Bornea took the first round, 8-1, and built it up to 15-4 going to the third of the 10-division tournament backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, PLDT, Smart, NLEX, Maynilad, Clarktel, Subictel, Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, Videogear Inc., Exile Lights and Sound, Philippine Olympic Committee, and the Philippine Sports Commission, and supported by Sony Philippines, Nestlé Philippines, and Trame Oil & Environmental Specialist. Roy Luarca