The Philippine women’s boxing team will compete in Bulgaria and India before the 32nd Southeast Asian Games slated May 5 to 17 in Cambodia.
The team, led by Olympians Nesthy Petecio (lightweight) and Irish Magno (flyweight), will join the Strandja Memorial Cup in Sofia on Feb. 18-27 and the International Boxing Association (IBA) World Women’s Championships in New Delhi from March 15 to 31.
The Strandja Memorial Cup is the oldest international amateur boxing competition in Europe.
“All of us are busy training, we want to get good results in our first two competitions this year,” head coach Reynaldo Galido said in an interview on Wednesday.
Aside from the SEA Games, the national boxers are also seeking to compete in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8, which is part of the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Petecio, a silver medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, has expressed her eagerness to see action in Paris.
“I really want to compete in the coming Olympics. Hopefully, I will get a slot,” said Petecio, who has been training with the team in Baguio City since Dec. 5, 2022.
As for her SEA Games campaign, Petecio said, “I cannot say if I will win the gold medal in Cambodia but I will do my best to win a medal, especially the gold medal.”
Petecio settled for the bronze medal at the 2022 Vietnam SEA Games while Magno, who was eliminated in the round of 16 in Tokyo, managed to win the silver medal in Vietnam. (PNA)
