HANGZHOU — Olympian Nesthy Petecio bowed out early in the 19th Asian Games as she lost to Lin Yu Ting of Chinese Taipei in the women's 57 kg class on Friday.
The tall and lanky Lin kept Petecio from a distance with her jab and timely combinations to hack out a 4-1 decision before a huge partisan crowd at the Hangzhou gymnasium.
See Cone wary of RHJ as Gilas, Jordan battle for outright quarters berth
The win had the Chinese Taipei bet clinching a berth in the quarterfinals and avenging her Round of 16 loss to Petecio in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"Naunahan niya talaga ako," said Petecio without offering any excuses for the loss.
Only the judge from Israel had the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist winning the three-round bout, as Lin got the nod of the four other judges from Algeria, France, Estonia, and Puerto Rico.
"Nesthy couldn't find her range properly," admitted national boxing team head coach Don Abnett. "The girl (Lin) deserved the win."
The loss also denied Petecio a chance of clinching an Olympic berth here since the quadrennial showcase also serves as a qualifier to the 2024 Paris Games.
But she still has the World Championship to look forward in her bid to earn a return ticket to the Olympiad and win a gold medal.
Petecio is the latest casualty out of the nine-man Philippine boxing team that is now down to its last three fighters.
Others who exited earlier were Aaron Bado, Mark Ashley Fajardo, Marjo Pianar, Aira Villegas, and Olympian Irish Magno.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
