Alice settles for bronze

MANILA, Philippines - Alice fell short of reaching Wonderland at the sixth AIBA World Women’s Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados, and returns home with a bronze medal on Tuesday.

Alice Kate Aparri, 26, would’ve bagged a sure silver with a win over India’s legendary four-time world champion Mary Kom in the 48-kilogram semifinals at the Garfield Sobers Gym last Friday but the Baguio City fighter failed to preserve an early lead and lost steam down the stretch in the four-round bout.

Aparri held a 1-0 advantage at the end of the first round and it was a 1-1 tie starting the third. Then, Kom, a mother of two, sprang to life, blanking Aparri the rest of the way to score a convincing 8-1 decision. Kom scored five points in the third stanza and added two more in the fourth to dash the Philippines’ hopes for a spot in the finals.

ABAP executive director Ed Picson, tracking the action from Manila, said Kom was too slick for Aparri. In five previous world championships, the Indian known as “Magnificent Mary” had won four gold medals – all in the 46-kilogram category. She took a silver in the 48-kilogram class at the first world championships in 2001.

“Alice’s bronze is not bad, considering the foes she was ranged against,” said Picson. “Nesthy (Petecio) was likewise unfortunate in the draw. But that’s how it is. Our girls fought hard against the best of them.”

The Philippines wound up with an overall record of 5-3 as Aparri picked up three wins, Petecio two and hard-luck flyweight Annie Albania, none. Before facing Kom, Aparri downed Lithuania’s Deimante Sipaviciute, 13-1, Russia’s European champion Svetlana Gnevanova, 8-3, and Sri Lanka’s Anusha Kudituwakku, 8-2. Petecio lost a 13-2 decision to Russia’s Elena Savelyeva in the bantamweight quarterfinals last Thursday. She earlier defeated El Salvador’s Yamileth Solorzano, 10-1, and China’s Zhang Qin, 8-3. Albania built a 4-2 lead, got overconfident and bowed to Turkey’s Sumeyra Yazici, 7-4, in her first and only outing.

“Annie’s loss was a humbling experience for her,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas, currently attending the World Water Congress in Montreal as Maynilad Water Services president. “We all think she became overconfident after taking an early lead. She will learn from this experience. It’s best that it happened now than at the Asian Games.”

ABAP secretary-general Patrick Gregorio said the showing was creditable considering the Philippines sent only three bets.

“I am sure that ABAP chairman Manny Pangilinan and ABAP president Ricky Vargas are happy with Alice’s bronze,” said Gregorio. “Alice’s performance was world-level. Getting a bronze in the world championships is a feat. We know that it was a very tough 75-nation tournament. She will be rewarded based on ABAP’s incentive scheme. Nesthy is slowly but surely maturing. At 18, she has a great future as a boxer. As for Annie, she must regain focus and stay the course. Her debacle in Barbados should make her realize that she has to work very hard. We will immediately sit down with head coach Pat Gaspi and assistant coach Roel Velasco to review their performance and decide who will be part of the Asian Games national boxing team.”

Kom, 27, said she had difficulty adjusting to the lightflyweight class. “This is the first time competing at 48 kilograms for a long time,” she said, quoted in the AIBA website. “My first time was at the world championships in the US (2001). It’s very difficult for me to gain weight. It was a tough bout (against Aparri) but in the second round, I started to work out her tactics and knew which punches to throw.”

At the Asian Games in Guangzhou this November, gold medals will be at stake in only three divisions of women’s boxing. The classes are flyweight (48 to 51 kilograms), lightweight (56-60) and middleweight (69-75).

Petecio, who campaigns in the 54-kilogram category, is undersized to fight as a lightweight and no Filipina qualifies as a middleweight. Albania is the logical choice to battle as a flyweight with Aparri a long shot. In Guangzhou, Kom is expected to fight in the flyweight division. Kom won the gold medal as a pinweight at the world championships in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

In AIBA history, the Philippines has bagged a silver and seven bronzes since the 2005 world championships in Russia. Pinweight Gretchen Abaniel and lightweight Michel Martinez earned a bronze apiece in 2005. Martinez and Aparri got a bronze each in 2006. Pinweight Josie Gabuco and flyweight Analisa Cruz gained a bronze apiece while Albania, fighting as a lightbantamweight, pocketed a silver in 2008. Aparri picked up her second bronze at the world championships in Barbados as the only Filipina medalist.

The Philippine delegation of Aparri, Petecio, lbania, team manager Karina Picson, Gaspi and Velasco returns to Manila on Tuesday morning.