Lightwelter Michelle Martinez, police officer of Camp Crame’s Headquarters Support Services, remained the country’s only gold medal prospect in today’s finals after lightweight RosieVillarito, suffering from fatigue and painful asthma, bowed to China’s Wei Qing (16-20) in Monday’s late evening semifinals.
The desk officer vowed to come out smoking to win a gold for the half-healthy team, which trained for barely four months while those from other countries, like China, Sri Lanka and India, have been at it for five years.
The North Koreans, who have entered five finalists, followed by China with three and host Thailand with two, have dominated the tournament.
Lightflyweight Librada Samson went toe-to-toe with China’s Zhao Li in the first few seconds of the third round, but the older Chinese gave her a standing eight count and the referee later stopped contest.