First in, first out
First 3 Pinoys drop out of contention after Day 1 of Olympics; lifters, boxer hope to break jinx
THE PHL national team got off to a rough start in the Rio Olympics after the first three athletes who competed were eliminated yesterday.
Lightweight bet Charly Suarez was eliminated from the 2016 Rio Olympics after losing a close split decision to Great Britain’s Joseph Cordina in his Olympic debut at the Riocentro Pavilion 6 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Cordina, the reigning European champion, got the nod of two of the three judges with scores of 29-28 and 30-27. One judge had it 29-28 for the 27-yearold Suarez.
Ian Lariba, the 21-year-old table tennis paddler, lost to Xing Han of Congo, in straight sets, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9, 11-7.
Lariba was the PHL delegation’s flag bearer during the Games’ opening.
Meanwhile, swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna failed to advance to the next round after finishing at sixth place in the second heat of the men’s 400-meter freestyle event.
The event was won by Mark Horton of Australia.
With the three of the lean 13-athlete team bowing out, the other 10 are left with the challenge to bring home a medal.
Today, the last PHL boxer left, light flyweight Rogen Ladon hopes to change the course of the Filipino athletes when he faces off with Colombian Yurberjen Martinez in the Round-of-16.
Ladon advanced to the second round of the preliminaries after getting ‘bye’ in the draw.
Martinez beat hometown fighter Pat- rick Luorenco by unanimous decision with scores of 29-28, 30-26 and 30-26.
Ladon, the only remaining boxer from the Philippines, takes on Martinez tonight.
The lifters are also out to strut their stuff today with Hidilyn Diaz competing in the women’s 63-kilogram and Nestor Colonia in the men’s 56kg.