Bacho lone Pinoy pug standing

MANILA, Philippines -  Welterweight Joel Bacho, who stunned a Cuban fighter Tuesday, easily disposed of Taipei’s Huang Zhao Ching, 5-0, to reach the semifinal round of the King’s Cup boxing tournament in Thanyaburi, Thailand Wednesday.

But the rest of the six-man Phl-ABAP national boxing team fell by the wayside after an impressive start, leaving the 24-year-old Bacho as the lone medal hope in the annual tournament featuring some of the world’s leading fighters.

Bacho, from Mandaluyong, will face 2016 World Youth gold medalist Akhmedov Sadriddin for a spot in the finals.

“I know he’s good but I gained a lot of confidence with that win over the Cuban. Hopefully, it will carry me to the finals and a possible gold here,” said Bacho, who shocked Arisnoidys Despaigne, a silver medalist in the 2013 World Championship and veteran of the World Series of Boxing, 3-1, Tuesday.

But Cagayan de Oro native Carlo Paalam, 18, a bronze medalist in last year’s World Youth Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia who whipped Alex Winwood of Australia in the first round, bowed to Rio Olympics gold medalist and 2016 AIBA Boxer of the Year Dusmatov Hasanboy of Uzbekistan, 0-5, in the 49 kilogram light flyweight division.

Flyweight Ian Bautista and bantamweight Mario Fernandez, gold medalists in the 2015 SEA Games, also succumbed to classy Thailand fighters with the former dropping a 0-5 loss and the latter yielding a 1-4 verdict.

James Palicte, who scored a smashing second round TKO victory over Aussie Patrick McLaughlin in the 60 kg lightweight division, also dropped a unanimous decision to Rio Olympic bronze medalist, Akhmadaliev Murodjon, another member of the fancied Uzbek team.

Eumir Felix Marcial also lost to Osley Iglesias Estrada, 2-3.

Despite the string of setbacks, ABAP president Ricky Vargas remained unfazed.

In a text message to delegation head and ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson, he said that while “obviously we would have wanted our win streak to continue, that’s a tough tournament the boys are in. I welcome the opportunity to test our skills against some of the best boxers in the world. This can only be good for them. Go Bacho,” he said.

The Phl-ABAP team’s coaches are Pat Gaspi, Romeo Brin and Elias Recaido Jr.