CARRYING HER momentum from her debut victory, Filipino boxer Nesthy Petecio defeated top-seeded Chinese Taipei’s Yu-Ting Lin earlier today in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Women’s Featherweight Round of 16 at the Kokugikan Arena. Petecio won the bout via split decision, 3-2, with all five judges scoring the match 28-29, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Petecio.

In the first round, Petecio adopted a more passive strategy in finding opportunities to strike within Lin’s aggressive fighting style. The Filipino boxer’s tactics proved effective as all but one judge favored Petecio at the end of the first.

Having acquired a feel for her opponent’s style of play, the Filipino Olympian returned to her usual aggressive nature and attempted to land various combinations in the second round. Despite Petecio’s valiant efforts, Lin’s major height advantage and unpredictability gave her the edge over Petecio as the Chinese Taipei boxer tied the match by taking round two.

Petecio and Lin went through round three aggressively stalking each other in the ring, given the high stakes that the round carried for both boxers. The final round was a constant flurry of attempted punches coming in from both sides, with the aggressiveness matched by continuous dodging and grappling. However, Petecio’s sheer speed and precision allowed her to land combinations in close combat, successfully negating Lin’s reach advantage. As the bout concluded, Petecio was awarded the split decision victory over the world No. 1 ranked Lin.

Given this win, Petecio will proceed to the Quarterfinals where she will compete against Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castañeda. A victory in the Quarterfinals will ensure Petecio a bronze medal, at the very least. The Women’s Featherweight Quarterfinals will be held on July 28 in the Kokugikan Arena at 10:00 AM Manila time.