Phl pugs seeded in Olympic qualifiers

Qian'An, Hebei Province, China — Three of the six / ABAP boxers entered in the AsianOceanian Qualification Tournament here were seeded by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) at the start of competitions Friday.

Seeded number 1 were Light Flyweight Rogen Ladon and Welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial.

Ladon got top spot owing to his Bronze medal finish in the World Championships in Doha last October and a Silver medal at the Asian Championships a month before.

Marcial was also a Silver medalist at the Asian Championships in Bangkok.

Seasoned boxer and Team Captain Charly Suarez, a WSB and APB veteran, is #2 seed in the lightweight category behind Dorjnyambuu of Mongolia.

Suarez's first fight will be on Sunday, March 27 against the winner of Turkmenistan vs. ChineseTaipei, while Ladon debuts on March 28 against either North Korea or Japan; Marcial fights on the same day against the winner of Chinese Taipei-Australia.

The first Filipino boxer to enter the ring is Roldan Boncales (Flyweight) who faces Vietnam's Van Thao Tran today, Saturday.

Lone female entry Nesthy Petecio, who went down in weight from her usual 54 kilograms to fight in the Olympic weight category of 51 kilos ( Flyweight), meets Micronesia's Jennifer Chieng, a half- Filipina. They fight on March 27.

Bantamweight Mario Fernandez also drew a bye and will go up on March 28 against the winner of the Turkmenistan-Qatar bout.

Delegation head Ed Picson, ABAP executive director, feels the team had a "fairly good draw."

"But we treat this as more a challenge than anything else. All the teams prepared long and hard and many had their own foreign training just like we did (the team had an 18-day camp in the US before flying to China). So we are not letting our guard down. Our boxers are going to go hard for the win", Picson said.

ABAP President Ricky Vargas who is abroad on business also expressed guarded optimism over the draw. —

Bureau

ABAP Media