Petecio advances to Round of 16 in Paris Olympics, faces France's Amina Zidani

Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial will start their Paris 2024 campaigns this week, aiming to improve upon their previous Olympic achievements.

Petecio defeated India's Jaismine Lamboria via unanimous decision in the Round of 32 on Tuesday, July 30 (Wednesday, July 31 Manila time), with Filipino fans' chants of 'Pilipinas!' fueling her impressive performance and strategic game plan.

The chants inspired Petecio to put up a clinical display, yielding merely two points to Lamboria in the bout, which earned her a unanimous win from judges Kazakh Termek Suiyenish, Korean Jongjin Kim, and Estonian Jakov Peterson, as well as American Shawn Reese and Moroccan Mouhsine Soulmi.

Petecio will face France's Amina Zidani in the Round of 16 on Friday, August 2 (Saturday, August 3 Manila time), while Marcial received a first-round bye and will face Uzbekistan's Turabek Khabibullaev in his Round of 16 match on Wednesday at 9:04 p.m. Paris time (July 31, 3:04 a.m. Philippine time).

Carlo Paalam and Hergie Bacyadan also join Petecio and Marcial in their respective boxing matches later this week.

Petecio's victory showcased her boxing prowess despite Lamboria's height advantage; she credited her success to strategic planning with coach Reynaldo Galido and the support of Filipino fans.