Eumir Marcial (proper) celebrates his knockout win. —ASIAN GAMES POOL
HANGZHOU, CHINA—The Olympic dream is slowly changing into actual for Eumir Marcial.
All he wants is another victory.
Whereas that’s simpler stated than achieved, what with the hard-punching Filipino punching above his weight—actually—right here on the nineteenth Asian Video games, Marcial is brimming with confidence that he can shoot for a second straight Olympic medal, maybe a shinier one this time, within the Paris Video games subsequent yr.
“Each struggle turns into more durable and more durable, however I’ll be prepared. I’m one step away from making it once more (to the Olympics),” stated Marcial in Filipino, who needs to show his middleweight bronze medal within the 2021 Tokyo Olympics into gold subsequent yr within the French capital.
Late Sunday night time, Marcial sneaked in a proper hook that decked Thailand’s Weerapon Jongjoho of their quarterfinal bout within the males’s 80 kilograms, prompting the referee to cease the match with 14 seconds remaining within the second spherical.
His bid for an outright Olympic berth will undergo the crowd-pleasing Syrian Ahmad Ghousoon within the semifinals on Wednesday at Hangzhou Gymnasium.
It was a struggle that almost didn’t occur as a podium end was initially in peril towards Jongjoho, the Southeast Asian Video games gold medalist within the division.
Wobbled
The Thai puncher had Marcial wobbled with a jolting proper straight within the first spherical that had the Filipino going through a standing eight depend.
“Sure, I used to be shaken after I bought hit. As you noticed, he has the dimensions and is larger than me,’’ stated the 27-year-old Marcial.
Jongjoho, who discovered the methods of the commerce underneath his uncle, 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist Somjit Jongjohor, defeated Filipino-British John Marvin for the light-heavyweight gold within the Cambodia Southeast Asian Video games almost 5 months in the past.
The 27-year-old Ghousoon is not any pushover both, having breezed into the semifinals with overwhelming victories over South Korea’s Jinjea Kim within the spherical of 16 and Tajikistan’s Shabbos Negmatulloev within the quarterfinal.
“He’s sturdy and good, so I’ve to struggle smarter. I have to win this one,’’ stated Marcial.
Surviving Ghousoon within the semifinals would imply assembly both Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibulllaev or China’s Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke within the golden-medal encounter.
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The finalists in Marcial’s weight class will likely be assured spots within the Paris Summer time Video games. INQ