Filipino featherweight Nesthy Petecio hammered her way into an Tokyo Olympics gold medal shot with a convincing unanimous points win over Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda at the Kokugikan Arena on Wednesday.
Petecio was awarded every round by the judges and will now meet Italian Irma Testa for a place in the gold medal bout. Testa scored her own unanimous points win against Canada’s Caroline Veyre. The 23-year-old Italian is a former European champion and Youth Olympics silver medallist.
Petecio beat the top seed in the featherweight draw, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, in a gruelling quarter-final fight on Tuesday.
The win guarantees an Olympic medal for the 29-year-old Davao City-native. It will be Philippines second medal of the Tokyo Games after weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz secured a historic first gold medal for the country in the 55kg category on Monday.
