Bornea good for bronze in youth boxing

YEREVAN, Armenia – First timer Jade Bornea blew a one point lead in the first round to drop his semifinal round match with Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in the AIBA World Youth Championships at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex here. The 17-year-old Filipino settled for the bronze medal.

The switch-hitting South Cotabato native, who came into the PLDT-ABAP pool only middle of this year, mostly essayed a southpaw stance into quick attacks in the initial stage to garner a 6-5 lead.

However, the Uzbek stepped it up in the second round and Bornea, who only that morning contracted a bad case of cough and cold, could not sustain the energy as he was lured into a fierce give-and-take in the middle of the ring. The judges gave the second round to Akhmadaliev, 18-12, before the final score of 25-14.

Abap president Ricky Vargas said “while we would have wanted a better finish, Bornea already over-achieved. There were 367 boxers in the tournament and our boy was among the 10 percent who finished in the podium. That’s nothing to sneeze at.”

Other members of the PLDT-ABAP team here were flyweight Ian Clark Bautista, who reached the quarterfinals, Eumir Marcial, who won twice before getting eliminated and Jonas Bacho, another first-timer, who lost a close first bout against a much more experienced boxer.

Delegation head here was ABAP executive director Ed Picson. Coaches were Romeo Brin and Elmer Pamisa. International technical official Jesus San Esteban and referee-judge Roger Fortaleza were also part of the tournament.