MANILA, Philippines — Boxer Nesthy Petecio fell a hairline short of a gold medal after falling to Japan's Sena Irie via unanimous decision at the Kokugikan Arena on Tuesday.
Irie took the first and third rounds, 5-0, to escape with the win and the gold medal against the determined Filipina.
The Philippines thus continues its search for its first gold medal in Olympic boxing.
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Irie thus reasserted her mastery over Petecio, whom she holds a 3-1 head-to-head record over.
Irie and Petecio have locked horns four times since 2019, with the Japanese pug winning in her debut against Petecio in the 2019 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Thailand.
The Filipina quickly exacted her revenge later that year when she beat Irie via majority decision in the quarterfinals of the 2019 AIBA World Championships in Russia, where Petecio ended up the world champion.
However, Irie would again take a win over Petecio in Jordan in March 2020 where she denied the Filipina of an outright Olympics berth in the Asia and Ocenia Olympic Boxing Qualifiers.
En route to the gold medal match, Petecio had to survive tough tests from four pugs, including World No. 1 Yu Ting Lin.
Most recently, she cut the taller and longer Irma Testa of Italy in the semifinals to set up the clash with Irie.