Pasuit advances to semis as two others fall in Thailand Boxing Open
At A Glance
- Riza Pasuit assured herself of at least a bronze medal after advancing to the women's lightweight (60kg) semifinals in the Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
Riza Pasuit assured herself of at least a bronze medal after advancing to the women’s lightweight (60kg) semifinals in the Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
Pasuit, a silver medalist in a heavier weight class at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, overpowered her Ukrainian opponent Marianna Basenets via a split 4-1 decision to inch closer to the finals. She hopes to make a repeat performance of her golden stint in the 2022 edition.
It was a close fight for Pasuit and Basenets as judges from Serbia, Korea and Algeria gave the Filipina a tight 28-27 score, while the judge from Sri Lanka scored a commanding 29-26 also in favor of Pasuit. The judge from Morocco, meanwhile, gave Basenets a 28-27 decision.
With the victory, the 32-year-old Pasuit arranged a semis bout against Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Grafeyeva, who clobbered Singapore’s Zann Chee with a unanimous 5-0 decision.
The other semis pairing pit China’s Tang Chengyu and India’s Sanju.
John Paul Napoles and Ronald Chavez Jr., however, were unfortunate after suffering quarterfinal beatings in their respective weight classes.
Napoles absorbed a unanimous 5-0 loss to Uzbekistan’s Daniyarov Madiyar in the men’s light (60kg), even as Chavez also bowed to Kazakhstan’s Torekhan Sabyrkhan with a similar unanimous 5-0 decision in the men’s light middle (70kg).
With Napoles and Chavez’s defeat, the PH team only has two remaining fighters in contention in Pasuit and Mark Ashley Fajardo.
Fajardo is battling Ukrainian Nikita Pohozhyi in the men’s welter (65kg) quarters at press time.