Marcial makes it to semis

Secures PH’s 3rd Olympic medal

- TITO S. TALAO

TOKYO — The swiftness with which Eumir Felix Marcial disposed of his quarterfinal opponent in the boxing competition at the XXXII Olympiad Sunday has underscored the speed Philippine athletes had been pushing for podium finishes following Hidilyn Diaz’s historic gold medal conquest in weightlifting.

Marcial, who scored a first round Referee-Stopped-Contest 1 decision Thursday, turned his quarterfinal bout against fancied Armenian Arman Darchinyan into a virtual workout with a first round knockout at the Kokugikan Arena.

The stoppage came down as the quickest of three KOs so far in Olympic boxing, and Marcial’s RSC-1 victory over Algeria's Younes Nemouchi, also in the first round, was one of eight.

“Noong una, medyo tinatantsa ko pa, pero noong mga last minute na ng round, nakukuha ko na ‘yung game nya (At first, I was sizing him up but late into the round, I knew what his game was),” said Marcial.

“Suntok, then alis lang ako. Medyo open guard lang ako para mas makita ko ‘yung suntok n’ya. ‘Yung plan ko talaga na ipapain ko ‘yung mukha ko para ma-counter ko ‘yung attack nya kaya naka-open guard po ako.” (I punched, then I moved out. I did open guard so I could see better his punches. My plan was to offer my face as a bait so I could counter his attack that was why I was in open guard.)

‘Yun din po ‘yung instructions ng coach ko, na tignan ko lang ‘yung suntok nya (That was also the instruction of my coach, to watch his punches).”