Phl’s Bornea, Marcial reach jr slugfest final

SUBIC, Philippines – Jade Bornea and Eumir Marcial outclassed their respective rivals to advance to the gold medal round of the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championship at the Subic Gym in Olongapo City here yesterday.

Bornea, a bronze medalist in the last World Youth Championship in Armenia, proved too much for Turkmenistan’s Shatlymyrat Myradov, scoring an easy 17-10 victory to seal a gold medal showdown with the winner between the Indian Lalitha Polipalli-Kosei Tanaka of Japan bout in the light flyweight division.

Marcial, the reigning world juniors champion, knocked down Uzbekistan’s Anvar Turamov in the second round with a crushing right cross to the mid-section and ended up posting a similar 17-10 victory in their light welterweight clash.

Marcial, meanwhile, faces the victor in the Japanese Hikaru Okishama-Mongolia’s Otgonjorgal in one of the finals matches tonight.

The weeklong meet is backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, PLDT, Smart, NLEX, Maynilad, Clarktel, Subictel, Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, Videogear Inc., Exile Lights and Sound, Philippine Olympic Committee, and the Philippine Sports Commission, and supported by Sony Philippines, Nestle Philippines, and Trame Oil & Environmental Specialist.

Flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and lightweight James Palicte were also seeking spots in the finals against Kazakhstan’s Sagidyk Moldashev and India’s Nagesh Kharare at presstime.

“I hope to win here because I want to make my country proud,” said the 16-year-old Bornea, who trained with 2012 London Olympics veteran Mark Anthony Barriga as part of his preparation for this event, in Filipino.

ABAP top officials Ricky Vargas and Ed Picson said they’re satisfied with their wards’ performance thus far.

“A great win by Jade and we will cheer for him all the way,” said Vargas. “But even louder cheers for the ABAP team that has been working hard for an efficient and properly run tournament. No major problems so far.”

“We all know Jade is talented and he is living up to his reputation as a shifty, wily, switch-hitter,” said Picson. “A lot of people believe he’s a shoo-in for the gold. I’d rather wait for Saturday’s finals.”

Bornea sized up Myradov in the early going with combinations to the head, claiming a 5-3 advantage. He went on an attack mode at resumption, landing crisp head shots to dominate his rival en route to victory that also impressed his coach, three-time Olympian Romeo Brin.

“He’s really well-prepared, it’s easy to coach if you have a well-trained boxer like him,” said Brin of Bornea.

If Borneo was impressive, Marcial was unrelenting particularly in the second round where he sent the heavy-handed Tumarov sprawling to the canvas following a jarring cross to his left mid-section.

Tumarov did stand up after a standing eight-count, but was never the same again, prompting Marcial to launch a series of head and body shots.