ABAP still proud of Villegas
AIRA Villegas fails to neutralize the length of Sakshi Chaudhary of India, leading to an early exit in the women’s 51-kg class boxing competition of the 20th Asian Games.
AIRA Villegas fails to neutralize the length of Sakshi Chaudhary of India, leading to an early exit in the women’s 51-kg class boxing competition of the 20th Asian Games.
The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) remains proud of Paris Olympics bronze medalist Aira Villegas despite making an early exit in the women’s boxing event of the 20th Asian Games.
ABAP president Marcus Manalo told DAILY TRIBUNE that Villegas had a difficult debut after losing to former world champion Sakshi Chaudhary of India, 0-5, in the women’s 51-kilogram division Tuesday at the Nishio Gymnasium in Nagoya.
The youthful boxing executive said Villegas did her best, but she couldn’t match the height, reach, power, and skills of the 26-year-old Indian, who moved to the 51-kg category after competing mostly in the 54-kg class.
“Aira did well. She had difficulty dealing with the reach advantage of the very skilled Indian,” Manalo said in an online conversation shortly after Villegas’ bitter defeat.
“It’s a tough first bout for Aira as the Indian is the current Commonwealth Games champion and former two-time World Youth Champion.”
With the loss, Villegas, one of the country’s flag bearers alongside weightlifter Albert Ian delos Santos, became the first member of the vaunted national boxing squad to bow out, dealing a major blow to its bid to finally capture its first Asian Games gold medal since the 2010 edition in Guangzhou.
“She lost to a better fighter, and she herself knew that she lost to a better fighter,” Manalo added.
“Aira couldn’t go inside; her opponent had all the advantage in height and reach.”
But everything is not yet lost for the Filipino boxers as they still have Olympic medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio in the lineup along with Junmilardo Ogayre, Riza Pasuit and Norlan Petecio competing in the coming days.
Norlan, the younger brother of Nesthy, advanced in the men’s 70-kg division after beating Cambodia’s Sophors Vy on Monday.
The 31-year-old Villegas said she intends to use the experience as motivation for her future competitions.
“I’m taking it as a lesson for future tournaments. That’s where I had a hard time,” Villegas said in an interview with One Sports.
“Well, pressure — I’m used to it. It’s really a part of being an athlete. Not just as an athlete, there’s pressure in all aspects of life.”
