Philippines' Nesthy Petecio and Poland's Julia Szeremeta (Blue) compete in the women's 57kg semi-final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Roland-Garros Stadium, in Paris on August 7, 2024. Mauro Pimentel, AFP
(UPDATED) It's a bronze this time for Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio.
In an upset, Petecio dropped a 4-1 split decision to young Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta in the semifinals of the women's 57kg division, Wednesday at the Roland-Garros Stadium (early Thursday in Manila).
The loss means that Petecio will be going home with a bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics. It's the fourth medal for Team Philippines, after Carlos Yulo's two golds in men's artistic gymnastics and Aira Villegas' bronze in the women's 50kg in boxing.
READ: Aira Villegas takes bronze after semis loss to Turkish foe
Petecio had been favored to advance to the gold medal match but appeared to lose steam against the 20-year-old Szeremeta, who recovered from a flat start to out-work the Filipina veteran in the second and third rounds.
Petecio won the opener in all five scorecards, but Szeremeta showed her quality in the second as she began to stay out of range while scoring with her right hook. The Polish boxer won four of the five scorecards to put the fight on the balance.
Petecio family immensely proud of Nesthy's Olympic stint
Szeremeta was the busier fighter in the third round, and while Petecio put together a flurry of punches towards the end, it wasn't enough to convince the judges who all scored in favor of her opponent.
Szeremeta will now move on to face the top seed in the division, Lin Yu Ting of Chinese Taipei, in the gold medal match. Lin put on a masterclass against Turkish boxer Esra Yıldız Kahraman, winning a 5-0 shutout to advance.
Lin is one of two boxers embroiled in a gender controversy in the Paris Olympics, along with Algeria's Imane Khelif. They had been disqualified from the world championships in 2023 for failing gender eligibility tests, but were cleared to compete in the Summer Games.
For Petecio, it's a bittersweet end to what had been an impressive campaign. The 32-year-old had looked to be in good form in her march to the semis, putting together a string of strong performances.
READ: Petecio clobbers Chinese foe to clinch another medal for PH
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She opened her campaign with a demolition of India's Jaismine Lamboria in the round-of-32, then silenced the French fans at the North Paris Arena when she overwhelmed home bet Amina Zidani in the round-of-16.
Against China's Xu Zichun in the quarterfinals, Petecio put on a clinic, outpointing her taller opponent to clinch another Olympic medal.
A world champion in 2019, Petecio became the first female boxer in Philippine history to win an Olympic medal in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. She lost via unanimous decision to Japan's Sena Irie in the final.
Despite the loss in Paris, Petecio has once again made history, joining an elite group of Filipino athletes with multiple Olympic medals along with Yulo, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, and swimmer Teófilo Yldefonso.
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