MANILA – Filipino boxer Eumir Felix Marcial suffered a shocking exit in the 2024 Paris Olympics via a unanimous decision defeat to Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan on Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines) at the North Paris Arena in Paris, France.
Marcial, a bronze medal winner in the men’ s 70kg event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, could not get his offense going against the 6-foot-1 Khabibullaev, who used his longer reach to frustrate his round-of-16 opponent in the men’s 80-kg category.
The Filipino tried to go for a knockout in the final round but it was not enough as Khabibullaev wisely boxed from a distance to avoid getting tagged by Marcial.
“Siya ‘yung better fighter today,” Marcial said. “Nakakalungkot. Kumbaga ‘yung pangarap ko biglang gumuho,” said Marcial, who was nursing a rib injury prior to his Olympic campaign.
“Nanghihingi po ako ng pasensya sa lahat ng Filipino na naniwala at sumuporta sa akin. Sana tulungan niyo ako ulit na bumangon at magsimula ulit, kung sa professional career ko ba o kung mag-Olympics ako uli,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nesthy Petecio outclassed India’s Jaismine Lamboria in the women’s 57kg division to earn a unanimous decision victory and advance to the round-of-16.
Petecio, a silver medalist in the Tokyo Games, relied on experience to beat her younger opponent and advance in the next round against French Amina Zidani on August 2.
Filipina swimmer Kayla Sanchez, meanwhile, bowed out in the semifinals round of the 100-meter women’s freestyle event after finishing 15th among 16 swimmers.
Meanwhile, rower Joanie Delgaco crashed out of medal contention in the women’s singles sculls after finishing 7:58.30 for sixth and last place in her heat during the quarterfinals round.
Filipino-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, on the other hand, ended her campaign after losing to China’s Jing Tang via ippon in the judo event’s women’s -63kg round of 32 in Mat 2 of the Champ de Mars Arena./PN
