Two days after Hidilyn Diaz won the Philippines' first ever gold medal in the Olympics, boxer Nesthy Petecio gets her turn on the spotlight when she competes in the quarterfinals of the women's featherweight division.
Petecio faces off against Colombia's Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
A win by Petecio will assure her of a bronze medal, and two more will give her a gold.
"We will look at the videos of her (Castaneda) fights here," said coach Don Abnett. "We know her next opponent will be tough, but we're very confident."
There's a reason for the boxing team's optimism.
Petecio had moved past her biggest challenge on Monday, stunning top-seeded Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese-Taipei via a 3-2 split decision.
Prior to her victory over Lin, Petecio opened her campaign with a 5-0 victory over Congo's Marcelat Sakobi Matshu in her Olympic debut.
"I want to win the gold medal for my country, but I know that I will have to work hard for it," Petecio said in Filipino after her triumph over Lin.
Castaneda advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Bulgaria's Stanimira Petrova via a 3-2 split decision.
On Thursday, Eumir Felix Marcial finally makes his Olympic debut against Younes Nemouchi of Algeria in the men's middleweight division at 10:48 a.m.
Irish Magno, fresh off her 5-0 demolition of Kenyan Christine Ongare, in the 48-51kg, takes on Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong next at 12:24 p.m.
Carlo Paalam, after posting a 4-1 win over Ireland’s Brendan Irvine, fights Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi on Saturday at 10:48 a.m.
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