Magno, Pasuit drop quarterfinal matches

MANILA , Philippines — Irish Magno and Riza Pasuit absorbed similar stinging 0-5 setbacks to fancied Mery Kom of India and Taiwanese Wu Shih-Yi, respectively, to go the way world champion Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam went in the quarterfinal round of the Asia Oceania Olympic qualifier in Amman, Jordan late Monday.

Magno actually kept the match close, falling 2-3 behind Kom in the first round but failed to sustain her counter-attacking style and eventually bowed to the five-time world flyweight champion.

Pasuit, who pulled off a close 3-2 decision over Japanese Hamamoto Saya in the prelims, struggled all-match against the aggressive Wu, who flicked away shots after shots that the Pinay fighter failed to neutralize in their lightweight clash.

Earlier, Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam dropped similar 1-4 setbacks to Japanese Sena Irie and Amit of India in women’s featherweight and men’s flyweight quarterfinal clashes, respectively.

Petecio, who beat Irie in the World Championships last year, groped for form while trying to find her rhythm, letting herself to get entangled with her foe in several occasions. Both fighters had appeared to be holding each other at times but the lady referee from Bosnia Herzegovina decided to dock a point on Petecio in the second round.

From then on, it was downhill for the Filipina champ.

Interim women’s head coach Reynaldo Galido said: “She lost her focus after that deduction.”

Despite their losses, however, Magno and Paalam still have another crack at qualification in the box-off for a fifth or sixth spot in their respective weight classes.

Magno will go up against Tajikistan’s Sumaiya Qosimova while Paalam squares off with Saken Bibbosinov of Kazakhstan.

Winners in the boxoffs will also earn slots in the Tokyo Games.

The string of losses came a day after Eumir Felix Marcial qualified to the Tokyo Olympics with a third round stoppage of Mongolia’s Byamba-Erden Otgonbaatar to advance to the middleweight semifinals.

The 24-year-old fighter thus joins pole vaulter EJ Obiena and gymnast Carlos Yulo in the Quadrennial Games, which is facing the possibility of being scrapped due to the COVID-19 outbreak.