PARIS, France — Olympic rookie Hergie Bacyadan may remain in boxing as far as Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) secretary general Wharton Chan is concerned.

“I think she has to remain in boxing because she has a great potential. More than that, she has an Olympics to look forward to,” said Chan.

The future of Bacyadan was discussed briefly after the Tabuk, Kalinga bet lost to Chinese top seed Li Qian in the round of 16 of the women’s 75kg class on Wednesday at the North Paris Arena.

“Hindi ko pa po alam kung ano mangyari sa akin, it all depends to sa mga bosses,” said Bacyadan after the match.

Chan’s suggestion may convince Bacyadan to stay in boxing.

Bacyadan started her athletic career as wushu artist before moving to vovinam which is a combination of Vietnamese traditional martial arts and wrestling.

After trying boxing, she fell in love with the sport although her Olympic debut did not end the way she envisioned it.

Bacyadan will go home with happy memories especially after her bout with the Tokyo Games silver medalist.

“Hindi tayo nagkulang sa tapang, kinaya ko ang suntok nya and tumama rin ako sa kanya,” said Bacyadan with a smile. All she needs to become more successful is more fights in tougher tournaments abroad.