Petecio tops Indian foe, barges into Asian finals
WULANCHABU, China—Filipino Nesthy Petecio beat Indian Meena Kumari Devi by unanimous decision Wednesday night to advance to the finals of the ASBC Asian Women’s Championships at Wulanchabu Sports Stadium.
Petecio, the lone survivor of the four-member PLDT-Abap team, fought wisely from a distance to frustrate the Indian and arrange a bantamweight finals showdown with old Thai rival Pieamwilai Laopeam.
Switching from orthodox to southpaw stance, Petecio repeatedly landed the decisive right straights to the head of Devi in the fourth round.
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The dusky, stylish fighter from Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, a silver medalist in both the recent Singapore Southeast Asian Games and the Women’s World Championships in Jeju, South Korea, last November, guns for the gold medal against Laopeam on Thursday.
They have a 1-1 head-to-head record with Laopeam edging Petecio in the 2011 SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia, and Petecio turning the tables on the scrappy Thai with a points victory in the China Open last year.
