Petecio holds off Japanese, enters semis

MANILA, Philippines - Nesthy Petecio punched her way to the semifinal round of the ASBC Asian Women’s Championships, outclassing Kawano Sana of Japan at the Wulanchabu Sports Gymnasium in Wulanchabu, China Monday.

The dusky Davao del Sur native dodged the Japanese flurry of punches in the early going then countered with power right straights to score the victory, keeping the long survivor among the four members of the PLDT-ABAP boxing team in the gold medal hunt. 

“Sana is a crafty fighter. She has an unorthodox defensive style that I had to figure out so my shots would connect. We have to watch out for her in the coming years,” said the 23-year-old Petecio who lost a close finals fight in the recently concluded SEA Games in Singapore.

Petecio, also a silver medalist in the Women’s World Championships in Jeju, Korea last November, takes a rest Tuesday and will go for a finals berth against Basumatary Pwilao of India Wednesday.

Pwilao won a split decision over hometown favorite Liu Piaopiao.

The other members of the team who bowed out in the second preliminary round were Josie Gabuco, Irish Magno and Riza Pasuit while Roel Velasco and Mitchel Martinez are the team’s coaches.