Gabuco's big win assures RP bronze

MANILA, Philippines - Pinweight Josie Gabuco dominated Chan Cho of Macau and came away with a convincing 20-0 rout to assure another bronze for Team RP in boxing competitions in the third Asian Indoor Games at the Bac Nihn gym in Vietnam yesterday.

The 21-year-old Gabuco, a bronze medal winner in the 2008 World Women’s Boxing Championships, fought aggressively all throughout their four-round encounter and rocked Cho with solid right-left combinations, forcing the referee to issue a standing eight count in the third round.

The one-sided victory thus assured the Palawan City native a bronze medal although she is expected to have her hands full when she faces four-time world champion ML Mary Kom of India in the semifinal round.

Mary Kom beat Ting Lo Yueh of Chinese Taipei, 14-9, in the other quarterfinal bout.

Bantamweight Annie Albania, who posted the first win for Team RP with a 15-5 rout over Na Zhai of Kazakhstan last Friday, was still competing against Meng Chieh Pin of Chinese Taipei at presstime.

“The win is a big boost to our campaign and I hope more wins will come our way in other sports disciplines we are competing in,” said RP chief of mission Julian Camacho.

Former Asian Women’s Boxing Championships gold medalist Mitchel Martinez, meanwhile, takes on Vui Nguyen Thi of host Vietnam in the light welterweight division, looking for a victory and a shot at the gold medal.

Earlier, the Philippine chess team missed giving the country a first medal as it bowed to fourth seed Iran in the mixed team blitz event.

Coming off with impressive victories over top seed India (3-1) and third seed and host Vietnam (3-1) in the early rounds of the nine-round elimination, the seventh-ranked RP chessers bowed to the Iranians, 1.5-2.5, and dropped to fifth with 11 points, one point behind their tormentor and India.

China took the top spot with 17 points while Vietnam came in second with 14.

Women Fide Master Shercila Cua shocked GM Paridar Shadi while GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. drew with GM Elshan Moradiabi but GM Mark Paragua and WFM Catherine Perena lost their respective matches.

Paragua absorbed his fifth loss in nine games against GM Ehsan Ghaem Magami while Perena, who won a bronze medal in the second AIG held in Macau two years ago, bowed to WIM Shayesteh Ghaderpour Taleghani.