Hergie Bacyadan pulled off a shocking 3-2 victory over Veronika Nakota of Hungary to advance to the quarterfinal of the women’s 75-kilogram division of the 2nd World Olympic Qualification Tournament on Saturday at the Indoor Arena Huamark in Bangkok.
Bacyadan, 29, kept her distance against the former youth champion while also firing jabs.
The Southeast Asian Games gold medalist is only a win from securing a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Only the semifinalists in her weight division will get tickets to the Summer Games which opens on 26 July.
Meanwhile, Carlo Paalam is battling against Sachin Sachin of India in the semifinal of the men’s 57-kg division as of press time.
A victory here will give Paalam an outright berth to Paris and join Eumir Marcial, Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio.
Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines secretary general Marcus Manalo told DAILY TRIBUNE the 25-year-old pug from Bukidnon just needs to stay focused and the Paris berth will be his.
‘It’s just the same thing: Focus on the fight plan. This will be his toughest bout yet so he has to put up his best performance tonight,” Manalo said.
Only the top three boxers in this category will be able to fly to Paris.