PACKING A PUNCH

A day after pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena captured the Filipinos’ third gold medal, another crown could be on its way as Olympian Carlo Paalam survived a dangerous Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan via split decision in the semifinals of the men’s 55kg division boxing competition of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old boxer from Bukidnon let out a huge roar after his hand was raised, assuring himself of at least a silver medal that matches the performance of the vaunted national boxing team in the previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023.

Paalam, a silver medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, admitted that he had to dig deep into his bag of tricks to survive the 25-year-old Sabyrkhan, the reigning world champion who was also voted as Best Boxer of 2025 by World Boxing.

“It was very intense because I knew that one of them would make it to me. They really studied my game,” Paalam said in an interview with One Sports.

“I’m thankful for the trust of my coaches, Coach Ronald (Chavez) and Coach Pam (Elmer Pamisa), because I have confidence in myself.”

Following Pamisa’s instructions to strike first and land the final counter, Paalam took control early before the bout turned physical in the third round. The Filipino, however, was handed a point deduction by the referee, but still refused to give up to turn the setback into an opportunity to slip into the final.

“I’m showing the referee that we’re Filipinos. That even if it comes down to a fight to the death, I’m going to give it my all in the last round,” Paalam said.

Paalam will battle Japanese powerhouse Yamaguchi Rui on Friday at 12:45 p.m. (Manila time) at the same venue for a victory that will avenge the Filipinos’ heartbreaks on top of the ring following the losses of Riza Pasuit in the women’s 54-kg class, Aira Villegas in the women’s 51-kg class, Nesthy Petecio in women’s 60-kg class, Junmilardo Ogayre in the men’s 60-kg class and Nolan Petecio in the men’s 70-kg class. It will also give the country its first boxing gold medal since Rey Saludar ruled the men’s 52-kg division of the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010.

But more than that, it will also be Team Philippines’ fourth mint — matching its achievement in the 2018 and 2023 editions in Palembang and Hangzhou. So far, the Philippines remains at No. 17 in the 40-country medal tally with three gold, three silver and 12 bronze medals.

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines president Marcus Manalo believes Paalam is ready for the challenge, but raised a red flag, saying that the Japanese are very hard to beat not just for their skills, discipline and power but also for their home court advantage.

“It’s not easy because the Japanese are ranked in the top two or top three in the world. But I’m sure Carlo is going to be up for the challenge,” Manalo said.

“I’m sure Carlo is very excited.”

Save for Paalam’s heroics, it was a quiet day for Filipino athletes, who still had a hangover from Obiena’s sensational defense of his pole vault title late Tuesday.

Tennis sensation Alex Eala flirted with disaster before beating Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles event, 7-5, 6-0 while the tandem of Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara booked their ticket to the semifinal after outworking Japan’s Non Matsumoto and Ren Matsumoto, 24-22, 22-20, in the women’s beach volleyball competition.

The duo showed great resolve in repelling the Japanese sisters’ determined comeback attempts to advance to the next stage, as the Philippines surpassed its fifth-place finish in the previous edition three years ago.

“Exhausting but very happy. We knew it’s not gonna be easy even with our height advantage against them. But we fought for this. We prayed hard to get the result we wanted and prepared for in the past months,” Progella said.

Unfortunately, the Filipinas’ dream semis duel was spoiled when Sisi Rondina-Rosales and Bernadeth Pons bowed to Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphornrapat and Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, 17-21, 21-12, 13-15, in the other quarterfinal pairing.

Progella and Pagara will try to snatch a gold medal round seat and avenge their compatriots against the Thais in the semis today at 8 a.m. (Manila time).

Meanwhile, the Philippine padel teams also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Jason Lapidus and Argil Canizares survived Chau Kwan and Lo Lok of Hong Kong, 6-2, 6-2, in the men’s Round of 16 of the men’s pairs event while Dana Abad and Joshea Malazarte edged Chan Wing and Lau Hiu of Hong Kong, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals as well.

The women’s pair of Tao Tan and Marian Capadocia, however, bowed to Chan Hiu and Law Yik, 7-5, 4-6, 4-6.

Over at the Aichi International Arena, Daryl Mercano suffered a Round of 16 setback to home bet Kondo Hayato in the men’s 100kg division event of the judo competition.

Nakabo Keisei also exited in the men’s 66kg division after losing to Abdurakhim Nutfulloev of Uzbekistan’s in the Round of 16.