Pauline Lopez missed her chance of making it into the Tokyo Olympics after bowing in the quarterfinals at the Asian Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan Saturday, May 22.
Lopez succumbed to 2018 Asian Games bronze medalist Laetitia Aoun of Lebanon, 21-10, in the packed women’s -57kgs division that drew 12 athletes.
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist earlier clobbered Syria’s Aya Al-Jarayhe, 22-0, in the opening round.
Only the top 2 athletes in each division will earn Olympic berths with Arven Alcantara already out of contention Friday, May 21, after a first-round defeat in the men’s -68kgs.
That leaves 2016 Rio Olympian Elaine Alora and Kurt Barbosa battling for spots as of posting time.
Barbosa, who is fighting in the men’s -58kgs, currently battles hometown bet Zaid Al-Halawani in the men’s -58kgs semifinal after triumphing over Mongolia’s Molomyn tumenbayar, 40-33, earlier.
Alora, for her part, is fighting Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Osipova in the women’s +67kgs, needing this victory to secure one of the two slots as there were only four players competing in their weight class.