PARIS/MANILA –  Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio and first time Olympian Aira Villegas settled for bronze medals in the Paris Olympics after failing to outmaneuver their respective opponents in the semi-final rounds, bringing the Filipinos’ medal haul to four, two of which were golds courtesy of champion gymnast Carlos Yulo.

With her performance, Petecio just became a two-time Olympic medalist, joining a prestigious list of athletes from the Philippines to have won more than one medal in the Olympic Games that includes Carlos Yulo, Hidilyn Diaz and Teofilo Yldefonso.

Petecio dropped a 4-1 split decision to young Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta in the semifinals of the women’s 57kg division, Wednesday at the Roland-Garros Stadium (early Thursday in Manila).

Petecio had been favored to advance to the gold medal match but appeared to lose steam against the 20-year-old Szeremeta, who recovered from a flat start to out-work the Filipina veteran in the second and third rounds.

Petecio won the opener in all five scorecards, but Szeremeta showed her quality in the second as she began to stay out of range while scoring with her right hook, ABS-CBN reported. The Polish boxer won four of the five scorecards to put the fight on the balance.

Szeremeta was the busier fighter in the third round, and while Petecio put together a flurry of punches towards the end, it wasn’t enough to convince the judges who all scored in favor of her opponent.

For Petecio, it’s a bittersweet end to what had been an impressive campaign. The 32-year-old had looked to be in good form in her march to the semis, putting together a string of strong performances.

Earlier, Villegas’ Cinderella run in the women’s 50-kilogram boxing division of the Paris Olympics came to an end on August 7 after losing in the semifinals to Turkiye’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu at the Roland Garros Stadium in downtown Paris.

Despite her defeat, Villegas is taking home the bronze medal and is assured of government incentive of P2 million and other prizes. 

Petecio, according the ABS-CBN report, opened her campaign with a demolition of India’s Jaismine Lamboria in the round-of-32, then silenced the French fans at the North Paris Arena when she overwhelmed home bet Amina Zidani in the round-of-16.

Against China’s Xu Zichun in the quarterfinals, Petecio put on a clinic, outpointing her taller opponent to clinch another Olympic medal.

A world champion in 2019, Petecio became the first female boxer in Philippine history to win an Olympic medal in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. She lost via unanimous decision to Japan’s Sena Irie in the final.

Despite the loss in Paris, Petecio has once again made history, joining an elite group of Filipino athletes with multiple Olympic medals along with Yulo, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, and swimmer Teófilo Yldefonso.

President Ferdinnd Marcos Jr. hailed Villegas for bagging a bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics, calling her an inspiration to young Filipinos.

“That was a knockout performance in your Olympic debut! You made us all proud and are surely an inspiration to young Filipinas,” Marcos said in a social media post moments after Villegas’ fight.

“Thank you for bringing home the bronze,” he added.

First Lady Liza Marcos also congratulated Villegas, saying that her performance proves that Filipinas “can really pack a punch worthy of an Olympic medal.”

“Congratulations, Aira! You put up a fantastic fight in your Olympic debut. We are all very proud of you and we can’t wait to welcome you home!” the First Lady said in a separate post.

Cakiroglu was just too much for Villegas, rightfully proving why she was the third seed in the competition.

Cakiroglu won in points via unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-26, 30-27, 30-27, 30-26.

The Turkish boxer dominated early with big shots, with Villegas at the receiving end of a standing count at one point in the first round. Despite the Filipino boxer showing a better fight late in the frame, Cakiroglu still swept the judges’ score cards.

Cakiroglu began her boxing clinic in the first round through more accurate shots, and a right straight at the 2:22 mark of the round wobbled Villegas, referee Wade Peterson stepped in to give her the standing eight-count.

Villegas thought she had her moment just before the final minute of Round 2 when she seemed like she knocked Cakiroglu down with a right hook.

However, Peterson, whose scorecards in bouts involving Filipino fighters as a judge have been criticized by some boxing fans, just ruled it a slip, and all five judges still gave the round to Cakiroglu.

Villegas could still not solve Cakiroglu’s puzzle in Round 3 as the judges all scored perfect 30s to the latter, who will face top-seeded Chinese pugilist Wu Yu, a 4-1 split decision winner over Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay, for the gold early Saturday (Philippine Time).

Radoslav Simon and Manuel Vilarino both thought Villegas was overpowered as they credited one round each in the bout as if she was knocked down.

Simon gave the 10-8 in Round 1, where Villegas was given a standing eight, while Vilarino did a similar score in Round 3. 

Villegas assured the Philippines of a second medal in the Paris Olympics after stunning host country’s Wassila Lkhadiri in a tight women’s flyweight boxing quarterfinal battle early Sunday (PH time) at the Paris North Arena in Villepinte.

Villegas said all her matches will be for teammates Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacdayan, who are out of medal contention.

“Inaalay ko rin ‘to sa mga kasamahan ko, kina Eumir, Hergie, tapos kay Carlo kanina. Nalungkot ako pero sabi ko kailangan ko siyang gawing motivation para ibawi ‘yung kasamahan ko (I dedicate this to Eumir, Hergie and Carlo. I feel sad for them but I’m using it as my motivation to make up for their losses),” Villegas said.