Team Pilipinas bags 3 gold, one silver, one bronze
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| Carlo Paalam wins the bout photo courtesy of Alphie Campo |
LOCAL hero Carlo Paalam joined Team
Pilipinas in a strong showing at the recently concluded Elite Category 10th Kostantin
Korotkov Memorial International Tournament organized by the
Russian Boxing Federation held at the Regional Sports Complex (Stadium im. Lenina) in Khabarovsk,
Russia from May 15-20, 2018.
RP
national boxing team member and Cagayan de Oro Pride Paalam outsmarted his
Korean opponent, a 2014 Asian Games gold medalist,
to capture the gold medal in the Men’s 46-49-kg. Light Flyweight division during
the May 20 championship bout.
Paalam fought his way to the top after defeating the top
bet of Russia Team A in the quarterfinals, 5-0, and outboxed another Korean
boxer in the semifinals, 4-1.
Other
Filipino boxers who made it to the podium were Nesthy Petecio (Gold, Women’s Featherweight 57-kg), Eumir Felix Marcial (Gold, Men’s
Welterweight 75-kg), James Palicte (Silver, Men’s Lightweight 60-kg M)
and Aira
Villegas (Bronze, Women’s Flyweight 48-51 kg.).
Petecio of Tuban, Sta. Cruz, del Sur won the gold in
her weight class by outpointing Li Ok
Byol of Pakistan, 4-1. Petecio also won golds in the 1st Indian
Open International held last February and in the Elite Category 35th
International Felis Stamm Tournament in Warsaw, Poland last March.
Details of the other medal bouts were unavailable as
of press time.
Team CdeO Boxing Head Coach Elmer Pamisa attributes Paalam’s
success in his overseas campaigns to the grassroots amateur boxing development program
of Mayor Oscar Moreno which already produced top caliber, world-class boxers
for the country.
Barely a year ago, Paalam averted a sweep by
Kazakh boxers at the President’s Cup when he won the gold medal in the 49 kilogram light flyweight class by outpointing hometown
favorite Ashkat Zhusupov at Stana, Kazakhstan
on
June 08, 2017
Paalam, a protégé
of Mayor Moreno since he was 9 years old, was the only foreign entry to win a
gold medal in the tournament dominated by the host country which garnered 12 of
13 golds, despite the presence of powerhouse teams from Uzbekistan, Russia,
India and Korea which could only manage one silver medal each. (RMB, with reports
from CIO/IAF and wires)
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