Aira Villegas escapes home bet for guaranteed medal in Paris Olympics

MANILA, Philippines – Aira Villegas survived one of the closest bouts in the Paris Olympics on the way to a guaranteed medal.

Villegas assured herself of at least a bronze after a gripping split decision win over home bet Wassila Lkhadiri of France in the women’s 50kg quarterfinals at the North Paris on Saturday, August 3 (Sunday, August 4, Manila time).

Even with the partisan French crowd booing her, Villegas hacked out a 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, 27-30 victory to make it two medals for the Philippines after Carlos Yulo won a historic gymnastics gold earlier in the day.

Her victory also means that the Philippines – celebrating 100 years of participation in the Games – will bring home multiple medals from consecutive Olympics for the first time in history.

The fight remained in the balance after the first two rounds, with three of the five judges scoring it a tie and the other two each giving Villegas and Lkhadiri the nod.

Villegas did just enough in the third and final round to clinch the win as she got the campaign of the Philippine boxing team back on track after Tokyo Games silver medalist Carlo Paalam fell short of the semifinals.

Paalam absorbed a split decision loss to Australia’s Charlie Senior in the men’s 57kg quarterfinals, becoming the third Filipino boxer to bow out of contention after Eumir Marcial (men’s 85kg) and Hergie Bacyadan (women’s 75kg).

Villegas jumped with delight and cried tears of joy after being announced the winner, knowing her life has changed from here on out.

On top of the P2 million incentive an Olympic bronze medalist is entitled to receive under the law, Villegas stands to get more rewards from the private sector.

A bigger windfall awaits the Tacloban City pride if she wins silver or the boxing gold that has eluded the country for a century.

While Villegas celebrated, Lkhadiri looked utterly stunned, her mouth agape as she became the latest French boxer to exit the Olympics.

Villegas guns for a spot in the gold-medal match as she battles third seed Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semifinals on Tuesday, August 6 (Wednesday, August 7, Manila time). – Rappler.com