HANGZHOU, China — A swashbuckling performance deserved another as Eumir Marcial, the flamboyant southpaw from Zamboanga City, scored another knockout win by humbling his Syrian foe in the semifinals of the 71-80-kilogram class Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Asian Games here.

And this time, the abbreviated triumph for the Tokyo Games silver medal winner came a bit faster as the Filipino first sent Syrian  Ahmad Ghousoon down to his knees with a whistling straight to the body that obviously hurt his rival in the second round.

“Alam kong nasaktan sya kaya tinodo ko na,” said Marcial, who once again whooped it up like a kid in front of the flashing cameras.

The end came for the Syrian at 1:49 of the second round when, after a rapid exchange of punches, Marcial unleashed a brilliant combination – none more lethal than the right hook that shook and dropped the Syrian like timber.

Filipino fans inside the city gymnasium stood proudly almost simultaneously to celebrate Marcial’s second KO win in three days, a feat that is likely to give his gold-medal foe Chinese fighter  Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke a sleepless night.

The gold medal bout between Marcial and his Chinese is set at 8:40 p.m. on Thursday with Marcial hoping to join pole vault ace EJ Obiena in the gold medal column that will also reward him a whopping P3-million financial reward – P2 million from the Philippine Sports Commission and another P1 million from the Philippine Olympic Committee.

The Chinese beat Uzbek Turabek Khabibullaev, 4-1, a decision that was put in question by some fans, but of course, not the home fans.

Ghousoon tried to get up after being hit by a howitzer of a right hook, but the Syrian could no longer stand due to his shaky legs, prompting Marcial to jump up once again in ultimate ecstasy.

It was a fitting sequel to another smashing second round win for Marcial, who is coming off four successful fights as a pro in the US. He thrashed Southeast Asian Games champion Weerapon Jongjoho of Thailand on Sunday where he carved out a KO win with only 14 ticks in the second round.

Again, Marcial credited his excellent timing – not to mention his fists packing with dynamite – for the win.

In advancing to the final round, Marcial, 27, assured himself of another shot at realizing  his Olympic dream – that is to win an Olympic gold as he also booked a ticket to the Paris Olympics with the win over Ghousoon.

“Una sa lahat nagpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon kung di dahil sa kanya wala ako rito,” said Marcial, who cried unabashedly in sheer joy.

More than gaining another shot at Olympic glory, Marcial also removed any doubts about his capability to make it to the Olympics.

He thanked several personalities for believing in him, especially when he decided to revert to amateur status.

“Una nagpapasalamat ako sa asawa dahil binigyan niya akong confidence para bumalik, ganun din sina Sir Manny (Pacquiao) and Mayor Bambol (Tolentino),” said Marcial

Meanwhile, three Filipino riders launched their own medal bid in cycling’s men’s road race on Thursday in Chung’an.

Ronald Oranza, Jonel Carcueva and Joshua Pascual will carry the fight for the PhilCycling team.

The three Filipinos will be racing against 63 athletes from the 19-nation field where Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Japan are ranked high on the start list.

Meanwhile, karateka Sakura Alforte starts her bid in the women’s one kata today – as well as, Alwy Batican in the men’s  individual kumite.