HERGIE Bacyadan followed in the footsteps of Carlo Paalam and likewise secured a ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Oozing with power and confidence, the 29-year-old Filipino scored a unanimous decision against Maryelis Yriza of Venezuela to become the fifth boxer from the Philippines set to compete in this year’s Olympiad.
READ Carlo Paalam punches way to Paris Olympics
Bacyadan sent the Venezuelan sprawling to the canvas in the second round of their women’s 75 kg class, Round-of-16 encounter on her way to the dominant 5-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Indoor Stadium Huamar in Bangkok, Thailand.
Fighting out of the blue corner, Bacyadan went down on both knees and was in tears when her name was announced as the winner.
The impressive win came less than 24 hours after Paalam also clinched another Olympic berth with a similar 5-0 win over Sachin Siwach of India in the men’s 57 kg class of the 2nd World Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Bacyadan and Paalam join early qualifiers Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, and Aira Villegas in the bid to give Philippine boxing its first-ever gold medal in the Olympics.
Only last year, Bacyadan became the first Filipino gold medal winner in the World Vovinam Championship in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Now she tries her hand winning a boxing gold in the world's biggest sports stage.
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