OLYMPIANS Eumir Marcial arn Aira Villegas punched their way to the finals of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games boxing competitions following dominant wins in their respective semifinal bouts on Wednesday.
A bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics, Villegas scored a 5-0 win over Mya Moe Thu of Myanmar in the women’s 50kg class while Marcial, also an Olympic bronze winner in the Tokyo Games, came out the winner via RSC (Referee Stopped Contest) against Nguyen Manh Cuong of Vietnam in the second round of their 80kg clash.
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“’Di ko ineexpect yung knockout na iyon, but ginawa ko lang ‘yung best ko and ‘yun nga ‘yung naging resulta,” said the 30-year old pro fighter Marcial.
Not as fortunate was pro fighter Weljon Mindoro, a 5-0 loser against Tung Bui Phuoc of Vietnam in the men’s 75kg.
Marcial and Villegas now join Jay Brian Baricuatro and Flint Jara in Friday’s gold medal matches at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center 4 Floor in Bangkok.
But all four will have to go through tough opponets to win the gold - three of them against home bets.
Villegas faces Chutthamat Raksat, a 4-1 winner over Indonesian Israellah Athena Bonik Suweho in the other semis pairing at 50kg.
Marcial, meanwhile, will face off with Indonesian Maikhel Muskita, who won a gold and the silver in the 2021 and 2023 editions of the Games, respectively.
Baricuatro, the first Filipino ro reach the gold medal round, takes on Thitiwat Phlongaurai and Jara against Thanawat Saengphed.
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