Olympians Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam will use the 2022 Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament as a springboard to a heavier task in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The national team is set to open a training camp in Thailand within the week, Petecio said, as Phuket will host the tournament from April 1 to 10.
For the Thailand Open, Petecio will still compete in the featherweight (54kg) division while Paalam will move up to the featherweight class (54kg) which is higher than his pet event at flyweight (48kg).
"Ang sa akin po ngayon, bahala po sila (competitors) sa conditioning nila at ako magfo-focus lang ako sa conditioning ko at sa taas ng ring na lang po kami magbabanatan hanggang sa gold (I'll just focus on my conditioning. We'll meet in the ring and clash for the gold)," said Petecio in an interview with reporters during the 2022 Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards night at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.
"Pinapabalik po nila (coaching staff) 'yong conditioning ko, especially sa hangin, sa stamina ko po. Dahan-dahan po nila ako -- kung baga back to basic. 'Yon talaga 'yong pinaka-proper 'pag pahinga (I'm back with my conditioning especially with my gas tank and stamina. We're back to basic)," added the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist.
After the Thailand Open, Petecio said she and her coaching staff will sit down and decide whether to participate in the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in May, the same month for the SEA Games.
Aside from the conflict of schedule, the 29-year-old Petecio cited traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, the venue for the world championships, might be a risky move amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
The 23-year-old Paalam, for his part, said moving up to the 54kg class won't be a permanent thing as he will suit up at 52kg for the SEA Games.
AIBA lists 51kg-54kg as a bantamweight while Olympic rules register 52k-57kg as a featherweight.
"Kailangan namin maglaro talaga ng tournament para ma-adjust namin kung paano namin lalaruin 'yong timbang (We need to participate in this tournament so we can determine how we would fight and adjust in our assigned weight classes)," added Paalam, also a silver medalist in the Tokyo Games.
Earlier reports state that the Thailand Open will be used as an evaluation for the final participants in the SEA Games as Rogen Ladon, 2016 Rio Olympian, is also listed at 52kg.
Tokyo Games bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial might miss action since he's preparing for his second professional bout on US soil but national team mainstays in Ian Clark Bautista (56kg), Mario Fernandez (56kg), James Palicte (64kg), John Paul Panuayan (64kg), Marjon Pianar (69kg), Wendell Dagle (91kg), 2012 World Champion Josie Gabuco (48kg), Tokyo Olympian Irish Magno (51kg), Riza Pasuit (60kg), and Hergie Bacyadan (75kg) will suit up for Thailand.