Pinay pugs exit ASBC meet

BAGUIO City standout Aira Villegas and 2014 World Championship silver medalist Nesthy Petecio were booted out of contention in the 2017 Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) Asian Women’s Boxing Championships being held at the Nguyen Du Gymnasium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Villegas lost via unanimous decision to the much taller Nguyen Tam Thi of host Vietnam in the quarterfinals of the flyweight class (48-51 kg.).

All five judges – Bekjon Yusupov of Uzbekistan, Kim Chun Sam of North Korea, Mandakhbayar Othonbayar of Mongolia, Royke Wayne of Indonesia and Zhang Jing Jing of China – scored 30-27 in favor of the Vietnamese fighter.

On the other hand, Petecio absorbed a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to Rio Olympics silver medalist Yin Jun Hua of China in the opening round of their featherweight category (57 kg.) bout.

Petecio got the nod of Yerland Gazizov of Kazakhstan (29-28) and Bek Yusupov of Uzbekistan (29-28) but Southeast Asian judges Mohd Rashid Bin Abdul Karim of Malaysia (30-27), Nighia Vuong Trong of Vietnam (29-28) and Arnagirenathan Vadivel of Singapore (29-28) voted for the Chinese bet.

Cagayan de Oro City pride Judelyn Casin was the first casualty after losing to Tsubasa Komura of Japan in the light flyweight (45-84 kg.) match of the event sanctioned by the International Boxing Association.

Barcelona Olympics bronze medalist Roel Velasco coached the team for the Asian meet.