MANILA – Filipino boxer Aira Villegas prevailed over Moroccan foe Yasmine Mouttaki via unanimous decision to advance in the women’s boxing 50 kg class in the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the North Paris Arena in Paris, France.
Villegas, who was on her first Olympic appearance, showed consistency with her jabs the entire match to earn the 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28 scores from the judges.
Villegas piled up the points in the opening round with her combination hits while warding off her opponent. Mouttaki rallied in the second round, connecting combinations to level the game.
But Villegas refused to get tangled in a toe-to-toe battle, kept her distance and even landed a heavy left that stopped the Moroccan on her tracks in the third round.
Villegas will return to action against second seed Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria on August 2 for a chance to reach the quarterfinals round.
Meanwhile, Filipina rower Janie Delgaco topped her repechage heat to advance to the quarterfinals of the women’s single sculls held at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Delgaco fought hard in the repechage round, clocking in at 7:55 to finish on top. She needed to finish in the top two of her repechage heat to progress to the quarterfinal round.
Filipina gymnasts Levi Ruivivar, Emma Malabuyo, and Aleah Finnegan gave all they got in the qualification round of the women’s artistic gymnastics but fell short of reaching the all-around final.
In fencing, Filipina bet Samantha Catantan crashed out of medal contention after losing to top seeded Arianna Errigo of Italy, 15-12, in the women’s individual foil round-of-32 match.
Filipina Maxine Esteban, who represented Ivory Coast in the Summer Games, also bowed out of contention after suffering a 15-7 defeat to Pauline Ranvier of France in the round-of-32./PN
