FROM being a world champion in vovinam, a Vietnamese martial art, Hergie Bacyadan now has a chance to become an Olympic titlist.
Given another chance to secure a slot to the Paris Games in July, the 29-year-old pride of Tabuk, Kalinga humbled Maryelis Yriza of Venezuela in the quarterfinals yesterday to book an Olympic ticket in the second World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.
After failing in her first stab at glory in the first World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy two months back, Bacyadan poured on the heat early on against Yriza to emerge as the clear winner, earning the nod of the five judges who scored the bout 30-26, 30-26, 30-26, 29-27, 29-27 in her favor.
Bacyadan shed tears as she recalled the tough journey she took in her bid for an Olympic slot in the women’s 75kg class, saying: “I doubted if I can still really do this. But I just kept on pushing and now I’m an Olympian.”
She became the country’s 15th entry to Paris and the fifth boxer after Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, Aira Villegas, and Carlo Paalam.
On her way to one of the four Paris slots up for grabs in her division, Bacyadan scored a unanimous decision win over Dunia Martinez of Spain and then prevailed over Veronika Nakota of Hungary via a tiebreak in the last 16.
“This is a dream come true. If the road to Paris was already difficult, I expect competing there to be much, much harder,” said Bacyadan, who was recalled to the national boxing team for the Olympic qualifiers after emerging as vovinam world champion last year.
“I’m sure my family is very proud of me. I went through several difficulties before I got here,” said Bacyadan, who decked Yriza for a standing 8-count in the second round.
Paalam earlier became the country’s 14th qualifier for Paris when he beat Sachin Siwach of India last Saturday, a victory that was hailed by Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
“I always believed that Carlo is a certified Olympian,” Tolentino said of Paalam, who won a silver medal in the men’s flyweight class in Tokyo in 2021.
Aside from the five boxers, the other Filipino qualifiers to Paris are fencer Samantha Catantan, gymnasts Carlos Yulo, Emma Malabuyo, Aleah Finnegan and Levi Jung-Ruivivar, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, and weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, John Febuar Ceniza, and Erleen Ann Ando and rower Joanie Delgaco.
Like Bacyadan, Paalam failed to bag a slot in the qualifying tourney in Italy last March due to a shoulder injury.
Needing at least five wins to clinch a Paris slot in the 57kg class, Paalam opened his campaign with a 5-0 win over Greece’s Alexei Lagkazasvili (5-0) and followed it up with big victories over Turkmenistan’s Shukur Ovezov (5-0), Armenia’s Artur Bazeyan (4-1), and the Dominican Republic’s Jose Feliz de los Santos (5-0).
Against Siwach, Paalam found himself against the ropes but managed to squeeze his way out and score the rousing win.
