Nesthy Petecio advances to QF of Olympic qualifiers; Paalam, Villegas head to Round of 16

Filipino Olympic silver medalist and boxer Nesthy Petecio advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1st Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy on Friday (Italy time).

Petecio won against Nancy Tas of Germany via unanimous decision in the Round of 16 of the women's 57 kg event.

The Filipina boxer will face Maud van der Toorn of the Netherlands in the quarters on March 10.

Only the finalists of the event will qualify to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam also inched closer to another stint in the Summer Games as he won over Andrey Bonilla of Mexico via split decision in the Round of 32 of the men's 57 kg event.

Three judges favored Paalam, all having 29-27 in their cards, while one scored in favor of Bonilla, while another gave a 28-28 score.

Aira Villegas will also head to the Round of 16 after getting a split decision win against Mckenzie Wright of Canada in the women's 50 kg event.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News