HANGZHOU – First the bronze medalist of the World Championship, now Carlo Paalam faces the gold medal winner himself.
The Filipino Olympian faces Khalokov Abdumalik of Uzbekistan in the men’s 57 kg quarterfinal on Tuesday night at the Hangzhou gymnasium, with the winner advancing to the semis and moving closer to clinching a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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The match is set at 7:30 p.m.
Paalam climbs the ring hoping to sustain the momentum of Eumir Marcial’s sensational knockout win over Weerapong Jongjoho of Thailand in the quarterfinal round of the men’s 80 kg class. Marcial overcame a standing eight-count in the first minute of the opening round to score the second round KO victory for a seat in the semifinals.
Moving up in weight from 54 kg, Paalam is facing for the very first time the 23-year-old Uzbek, gold medal winner in the recent World Championship held in the capital city of Tashkent.
Khalokov is also the reigning Asian champion in the division.
Despite the glowing credentials of Khalokov, head coach Ronald Chavez remains optimistic about Paalam pulling off an upset.
“Kaya ni Carlo talunin yan,” he said.
Paalam proved he can compete in his new weight class after beating Uulu Munarbek Seiitbek of Kyrgystan in the Round-of-16 to reach the quarterfinals.
The Tokyo silver medal winner won, 4-1, against the 27-year-old Seiitbek, bronze medalist in this year’s World Championship.
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